Christophe Canato, Ricochet (Untitled 3), 2013, archival pigment print, 80 x 60cm, edition of 5

Christophe Canato’s evocative photographs trigger memories of one’s childhood. This rich series of darkly lit portraits and still life photographs, each piece brimming with a sense of uncertainty and mystery, delves into the psyche of childhood and looks at the fascination and imagination held only within the mind of the child.

As Alasdair Foster (Director of the Australian Centre for Photography, 1998-2011) writes ‘Christophe Canato’s photographs of boys are not so much portraits as psychological portrayals of the developmental stage that follows infancy and precedes adolescence. These human subjects are complemented by photographs of inanimate forms and structures… Objects that fascinate the mind of a boy but retain little interest for the busy grownup. In this way the artist sets up a dialogue between the adult viewer and the half-remembered period of childhood his photographs evoke.’

Born in France in 1966, Canato grew up in an artistic family, his father a talented painter. At seventeen Canato successfully enrolled in the Beaux-Arts School and went on to complete a Diplôme National Supérieur D’expression Plastique in 1989. Canato lives and works in France and Australia.