Four months into 2021 and Rémi Thériault is already on a roll. The lead photographer at House of Common, and frequent contributor to Ottawa Magazine, has won four big photography awards. Whether it’s portraits of frustrated OC Transpo riders or poignant scenes from a historical spring flood, Rémi always brings his A game to a photo shoot, so it’s no surprise to us. In a year that has been tough for artists of all kinds, his striking work is worth celebrating. Here, we round up the winning images and find out a little more about what went on behind the lens.
2021 Applied Arts Photography Awards – Food Photography Single “Cannabis Cocktail”
Ever since becoming legal in 2018, cannabis has been showing up in an array of novel forms. For those that don’t enjoy the actual act of smoking, edibles are the way to enjoy marijuana without actually inhaling any smoke. In our 2021 Interiors edition, Katie Shapiro wrote about a brand new take on the idea: combining weed with alcoholic cocktails. With help from local bartender Shane Gifford, Rémi brought the concept to life by showing the range of ingredients involved in creating such a concoction. By setting it against a mirror, the result was a stunning — and slightly trippy — photograph that commands attention.
2021 Applied Arts Photography Awards – Advertising Photography Single “Human Trafficking”
Rémi and his team were enlisted to help with a project aimed at educating the Canadian public about human trafficking. The Human Trafficking Awareness photo was part of a larger campaign for Banfield marketing agency and Public Safety Canada. This campaign was designed to differentiate human trafficking from human smuggling. Using a shipping crate – commonly associated with human smuggling – as a frame, they contrast preconceptions with reality.
“Cannabis Cocktail” and “Human Trafficking” will feature in Applied Arts Magazine’s Summer 2021 Photography/Illustration & Design Awards Annual, as well as in their online winners gallery.
Juno Award nomination for Best Album Artwork “Lynne Hanson – Just Words”
In 2020, Rémi was chosen to work on an album cover for an independent album released by local singer Lynne Hanson. The simple yet mesmerizing design of sticks and stones laid out neatly helps to create an evocative image based on that all too famous children’s rhyme. The light blue background adds a soft complement. House of Common photographer Maryn Devine, as well as designers Michael Zavacky and Jared Barter, are also credited for this beauty of an album cover, which is lined up against nominee’s “Palimpsest – Protest The Hero” and “Pray For It – July Talk”; the winner will be announced in June.
American Photography Awards “Tani Olorunyomi”
This beautiful image of local photographer Tani Olorunyomi is the result of a collaborative contest between House of Common and Ottawa’s Studio 20/20. This contest awarded local artists a chance to work with one of three photographers, one of whom was Rémi. This image was selected as one of the year’s best amongst judges, which includes photo editors and creative directors from New York Magazine, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Washington Post. This photograph is one of the 409 images selected from over 7,000 entries and will appear in a printed book — and hopefully celebrated with a visit to NYC — this fall.