PHOTOGRAPHY. In 1997, FESTIVE RITUAL: PORTRAITS OF THE MONTREAL RAVE SCENE marked the beginning of a long-term exploration into the world of nightlife and dance, with E_LOUNGE (2000), TANZ PARTY (2002) and MES NUITS BLANCHES (2003) following. After the exhibition of FESTIVE RITUAL during The Mois de la Photo à Montréal, the show toured worldwide through the FNAC Photo galleries (France) for over ten years. FESTIVE RITUAL, TANZ PARTY and later AMALGAT: DANSE, TRADITION ET AUTRES SPIRITUALITES (2003-2007) address the theme of the body-in-movement and have been presented as books, websites and exhibition tours. HUMANITAS, a series of portraits showing extreme emotion from birth to death, had its premier presentation in 2010 at VU PHOTO centre in Quebec City. Hayeur's installation approach and exhibition staging place her in the field of “art photography” (la photographie plasticienne).
MEDIA ARTS. In 2003, Hayeur and musician Myléna Bergeron formed the duo THE YING YANG LADIES. Since then, they have been creating music videos and live multimedia performances. This collaboration has allowed Hayeur to go more deeply into a new aesthetic pursuit, expanding her practice into image, movement and sound dimension. In 2006, as artists-in-residence at Duolun MoMA of Shanghai, they created MAPPING TERRITORIES. This body of work generated MAPPING TERRITORIES: A SHANGHAI STORY which was presented in a variety of settings including HTMlles8 festival (2007), the 19th Annual St. John's International Women's Film Festival in Newfoundland and Labrador (2008) and Domaine d’O in Montpellier, France (2009). For Festival Voix d'Amériques (2010), currently Festival Phénomena, The Ying Yang Ladies created DANS LA FORÊT, PLUS ON AVANCE PLUS LE BOIS EST GRAND, inviting five young poets to collaborate and bring spoken word into the performance.
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COMMUNITY ART. Since 2003, the artist has led photographic workshops with various communities as a mentor and teacher. She has worked with a wide range of groups including adolescents, immigrants and business employees on issues of creativity, identity and self-esteem. Projects include, among many, work with Haitian youth from Montreal's Saint Michel neighbourhood during the STOCK EN HAÏTI: QUINZE ANS exhibit; and with new immigrants during the project AMALGAT: DANSE, TRADITION ET AUTRES SPIRITUALITES. One aim of all of these projects has been to use photography as a tool for promoting a democratic sense of value and worth among humans in their environment. The body of work ICI C’EST CHEZ MOI (HABITER, VU PHOTO, Quebec City, 2006) and the web project HABITER — AU-DELÀ DE MA CHAMBRE (NFB, 2011) invites adolescents to photograph their bedrooms and their imaginary “home sweet home”. Community spirit underlies all of the artist's practice: field research and acts of community and neighbourhood engagement are key factors that connect the many parts of her work.
PHOTOJOURNALISM. Since 1994, Caroline Hayeur has been a member of Montreal-based Agence Stock Photo — a collective of independent photojournalists. The organization facilitates the exchange of skills and tools among its members and also organizes projects such as STOCK EN HAÏTI: QUINZE ANS at MUPANAH (Port au Prince) and The Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges (Montreal) in 2002-2003. In 2012, the collective celebrated its 25th anniversary with the exhibition 25 YEARS OF STORIES under the artistic direction of Hayeur, with a dozen photographers presenting retrospective work at the Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay International Meeting of Photojournalism and at The Maison de la culture du Plateau-Mont-Royal (Montreal).
CAROLINE HAYEUR teaches photojournalism at l'École des médias, Faculty of communications at The Université du Québec à Montréal.
