Events
David Miller: Milton Parc - Architecture, Photographs and Advocacy
Milton-Parc is a downtown Montreal neighbourhood dating from the last quarter of the 19th century. Almost 100 years after their construction, the spacious row houses were inhabited by students and professors, the working class, and welfare recipients. The architectural context, though punctuated by tacky highrises, formed a cohesive visual environment for a vibrant community. A number of local stores served as meeting places. From 1970 through 1972, David Miller and Clara Gutsche photographed the community they lived in as part of a citizens' struggle to preserve their neighbourhood from demolition and highrise redevelopment. They used photography as a tool for consciousness-raising, exhibiting their work in the area as often as possible. By 1972, as demolition began, it seemed evident that the community had lost the fight. Only in hindsight did we realize that much of the neighbourhood had been saved, and indeed, eventually became the largest housing cooperative in North America. While a significant percentage of the houses and stores was destroyed, this widely publicized citizen opposition to the destruction of their neighbourhood did have a mostly successful outcome. And 45 years later, the photographs continue to be seen in books, films, exhibitions, and museum collections.
David Miller has been photographing for 50 years, using all analogue formats from 35mm to 11”x14”. He lives in Montreal, which he has photographed extensively. His work, which includes urban and natural landscape as well as portraits, has been exhibited from the Vancouver Art Gallery to the National Building Museum in Washington D.C., and from the National Gallery of Canada to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. His photographs are in both museum and corporate collections across North America.
