Born in 1967 in the cosmopolitan city of Montreal, Éric Rico Michel is a photographer, graphic designer, and musician. Since the 1990s, he has concurrently worked in design studios, as a songwriter and guitar player with local groups, while pursuing creative projects in interactive arts and in photography. These seemingly separate paths eventually rub off on each other, trading influences, broadening the spectrum to form an experience that draws from both the rational and the creative side of the mind.
Rico has created a vector font for graphic arts magazine Rectangle (1987), published an album of original music with group Les Michels (1995), produced interactive 360° tours for Google Maps (2014), directed short film Midsummer Reverie (2017), and has participated in collective and solo art shows as a digital artist and as a photographer (2017–).
While reading “Memories of a dog”¹, I imagined myself as a japanese Kerouac, on the road with Daidō. We were trying to get lost in space-time, in search of this state where, deprived of our usual landmarks, we would come to confuse past, present, memory and imagination. Daidō was not nostalgic. He was not looking for a memorable image, but for the image of memory itself.
Daidō Moriyama, “Memories of a dog”, Munich, Nazraeli Press, 2004, 192 p.
Landes — Wide view of shadows cast by scaffoldings on a green container, in Quartier des spectacles, Montreal, Quebec (2022).
Landes – Wide view of shadows cast by scaffoldings on a green container, in Quartier des spectacles, Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in March of 2022.
Demimonde — Close-up view of fresh snow covering a hydraulic hammer on a construction site, in Griffintown, Montreal, Quebec (2022).
Demimonde – Close-up view of fresh snow covering a hydraulic hammer on a construction site, in Griffintown, Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in March of 2022.
Bogie — Side view of a railroad freight car’s wheel assembly during a light snowfall, in Saint-Henri, Montreal, Quebec (2022).
Bogie – Wide view of a railroad freight car’s wheel assembly during a light snowfall, in Saint-Henri, Montreal, Quebec. This black and white panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in March of 2022.
Poudrerie — Panoramic view of Mount Royal’s Côte-des-Neiges Road during a blizzard, in Montreal, Quebec (2022).
Poudrerie – Panoramic view of Mount Royal’s Côte-des-Neiges Road during a blizzard, in Montreal, Quebec. This black and white panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in February of 2022.
White desert — View of a small snow dune formed under a park bench during a light snowfall, in Montreal, Quebec (2022).
White desert – Wide view of a small snow dune formed under a park bench during a snowfall, in Montreal, Quebec. This black and white panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in January of 2022.
Fost — Panoramic view of a railway bridge during a light snowfall, in Saint-Henri, Montreal, Quebec (2022).
Fost – Panoramic view of a railway bridge during a snowfall, in Saint-Henri borough, in Montreal, Quebec. This black and white panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in January of 2022.
Fins — Horizontal view of Place Wilfrid-Pelletier’s aluminium façade designed by architect Norman Slater, in Montreal, Quebec (2021).
Fins – Horizontal view of Place Wilfrid-Pelletier’s aluminium façade designed by architect Norman Slater, in Montreal, Quebec. This black and white panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in November of 2021.
Golden Hour — Close-up view of a spray-painted golden scooter parked at Atwater Market, in Montreal, Quebec (2021).
Golden Hour – Close-up view of a spray-painted golden scooter, at Atwater Market in Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in October of 2021.
Picnic — Wide view of an orange picnic table illuminated by the late afternoon sunlight, at Atwater Market, in Montreal, Quebec (2021).
Picnic – Wide view of an orange picnic table illuminated by the late afternoon sunlight, at Atwater Market, in Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in October of 2021.
Yellow — Wide view of a Latin Quarter sidewalk covered in yellow autumn leaves, in Montreal, Quebec (2021).
Yellow – Wide view of a Latin Quarter sidewalk covered in yellow autumn leaves, in Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in October of 2021.
Jungle — View of a leaf covered British coupé abandoned on a vacant Griffintown lot, in Montreal, Quebec. (2021).
Jungle – Wide view of a leaf covered British coupé abandoned on a vacant Griffintown lot, in Montreal, Quebec. This color panoramic photograph was taken by Rico Michel in September of 2021.
