Dorothée Nowak

Dorothee Nowak is a French documentary photographer currently based in Montreal, Quebec. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Photography from Concordia University. Her photographs have been presented in Canada and, featured in publications both printed and online. Coming from Polish origin, she was born in the North of France, a region known for its rich migration history due to coal mining industry. Interested in the subject of displacement and migration, she attempts to grasp upon the narrative of being in-between two cultures and the sense of self within a new environment as well as the impact of the human migration in a new environment.

Ils sculptent les montagnes.

“Ils sculptent les montagnes” is a documentary project about the granite area in southern Quebec, Canada. Stanstead is known for its granite, the Stanstead Grey. The ongoing series focuses on a transformation plant and a quarry in Graniteville.

There, I met David, Gilles and Tom. David and Gilles, are carving stones while Tom works directly in the quarry like his grandfather and father did before him. Two of them, David and Gilles, are carving stones while Tom works directly in the quarry like his grandfather and father did before him. He is always going back and forth between Stanstead and quarries in the USA. As they explained the industry of granite idles because of global business competition and the closure of small quarries.

“Ils sculptent les montagnes” shows how the granite tradition and pride is maintained and how the cultural and geographical space was transformed through the years thanks to the human impact.

To view more of their work please visit their website.