My name is Daniel Castonguay, I’m a freelance street photographer based in Montreal, Canada. I began photography in 1979 as an extracurricular activity. Without completely putting aside my passion for photography, I pursued my studies and obtained in 1989, a Professional Electrical Engineering degree at "Université du Québec à Chicoutimi" in Canada.
Living in a great city, I was naturally driven to street photography and depicting the quotidian life in its simplest form. When I started in this field of photography, I worked accordingly to the established standards of the style and at a certain point I got bored of not being able to illustrate the mood of the “moment”. In order to give a more authentic touch to my work, audacious and greatly influenced by the early 20th century pictorialist movement and artists such as Alfred Stieglitz, Robert Demachy and Léonard Misonne, I began to process my imagery to make it a little more mysterious. This had the effect of combining simple moments of life with my state of mind, ending up in a unique "creative street photography" style, hence the name of my series Quotidian Life.
"Quotidian Life" series
The quotidian life is more or less the same for all with a few variations. A part of my work as a "creative street photographer" is to bring this daily life into a world of fantasy, something related to abstraction. This creates a duality, a paradox. The paradox of the ordinary life in a universe that exists only in one's own imagination that can literally be anything but still being able to relate to.
For me, photography is a mode of expression in the same way as writing or playing music. Transmitting an emotion is the essence of my photographic work, bringing the viewer into a story. More specifically, to make the viewer travel in a world of reverie, leaving all the space to imagination.
Being a street photographer is above all playing a role in the urban life framework, contributing to its vivacity, its pace and almost belonging to a chaotic scenario. To me, street photography is more than a “picture making business“, it’s being part of a continuous theatrical sketch where I play the role of a silenced character.
Awards
"Yellow". PSA Gold medal, International Seen Shot Society Awards 2021, "Open Color" category, Kolkata, India.
"Illusions". PSA Gold medal, International Seen Shot Society Awards 2021, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Yellow". PSA Gold medal, International CAS Photography Awards 2021, "Open Color" category, Kolkata, India.
"Illusions". Gold medal, International CAS Photography Awards 2021, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Waiting". Honorable mention, International Black & White Spider Awards 2021, "Fine Art" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Daniel Castonguay Studios" label & "Quotidian Life" series. First place winner, Creative Communication Award C2A 2020, Los Angeles, USA.
"Blue". Honorable Mention, International Color Awards 2020, "Fine Art" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Mom". Honorable mention, Monochrome Photography Awards 2020, "Photomanipulation" category.
"The blue jacket". Bronze medal, International Chromatic Photography Awards 2020, "Photomanipulation" category.
"Walking Brutus". First place winner, Umbra International Photography Awards 2020, "Digital manipulation" category, Berlin, Germany.
"Walking Brutus". Third place winner, International Black & White Spider Awards 2020, "Silhouette" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Downtown". Honorable mention, International Black & White Spider Awards 2020, "Fine Art" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Friday". Honorable mention, International Photography Awards (IPA) 2020, "Special, Digitally Enhanced" category, Los Angeles, USA.
"Mom". First place winner, Pollux Photography Awards 2020, "Digital manipulation" category, Barcelona, Spain.
"The blue jacket". Honorable mention, Pollux Photography Awards 2020, "Digital manipulation" category, Barcelona, Spain.
"Les lampadaires". Honorable mention, Pollux Photography Awards 2020, "Digital manipulation" category, Barcelona, Spain.
"Mom". Bronze medal, PX3 Prix de la Photographie de Paris 2020, "Fine Art" category, Paris, France.
"Walking Brutus". Bronze medal, PX3, Prix de la Photographie de Paris 2020, "Fine Art" category, Paris, France.
"Quotidian Life" series, First place winner, Portfolio of The Year 2020, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, Greece.
"Rush". Gold medal, International CAS Photography Awards 2020, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Walking Brutus". Gold medal, Moscow International Photography Awards 2020 - (MIFA), "Fine Art - Special effects" category, Moscow, Russia.
"Let it rain". Honorable mention, Moscow International Photography Awards 2020 - (MIFA), "Fine Art - Special effects" category, Moscow, Russia.
"Walking Brutus". Silver medal, BAWS International Small Prints Circuit 2020, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Old friends". Gold medal, BAWS International Small Prints Circuit 2020, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Old friends". Honorable mention, Monovisions Photography Awards 2020, "People" category, London, UK.
"Let it rain". Honorable Mention, International Color Awards 2020, "Fine Art" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Walking Brutus". First place winner, Fine Art photo of the year, Monovisions Photography Awards 2019, London, UK.
"Walking Brutus". First place winner, Pollux Photography Awards 2019, "Fine Art" category, Barcelona, Spain.
"Walking Brutus". Honorable mention, Annual Photography Awards 2019, "Fine Art" category.
"Quotidian life" series. Honorable mention, London International Creative Competition 2019 - LICC, London, UK.
"Old friends". Honorable mention, Annual Photography Awards 2019, "Fine Art" category.
"Long way home". Third place winner, International Monochrome Photography Awards 2019, "Photomanipulation" category.
"Walking Brutus". Honorable mention, International Monochrome Photography Awards 2019, "Photomanipulation" category.
"Old friends". Honorable mention, International Monochrome Photography Awards 2019, "Photomanipulation" category.
"Friday". Bronze medal, Kathmandu Photo Art International Salon 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal.
"Let it rain". Honorable Mention, International Chromatic Photography Awards 2019, "Photomanipulation" category.
"Let it rain". Silver medal, Campina International Exhibition 2019, Campina, Romania.
"The entrance". Second place winner, "Transformations" International Exhibition 2019, Philadelphia, USA.
"Old friends". First place winner, International Black & White Spider Awards 2019, "People" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Long way home". Honorable mention, International Black & White Spider Awards 2019, "Fine Art" category, Beverly Hills, USA.
"Walking Brutus". Honorable mention, International Photography Awards (IPA) 2019, "Special, Digitally Enhanced" category, Los Angeles, USA.
"Daily grind". Gold medal, International CAS Photography Awards 2019, "Monochrome" category, Kolkata, India.
"Brothers". Second place winner, "Odyssey" International Exhibition 2019, Philadelphia, USA.
Press / Magazines / Blogs