“Les Soeurs Adoratrices du Precieux-Sang”, Nicolet, 1995, from the Convent series,1990-1998.
Gutsche is the seventh Concordian to win the Scotiabank Photography Award.
Building a community
Gutsche’s passion for photography began at the age of eight when she first held her grandmother’s twin-lens reflex camera.
“I was fascinated by seeing the world as 2D images,” Gutsche recalls. Despite initially studying chemistry at Oberlin College in Ohio, her art practice blossomed after moving to Montreal in 1970. She and her then-boyfriend, now husband, David Miller, settled in a small housing cooperative in the Milton Park neighbourhood, where she had access to a darkroom and learned the fundamentals of photography.
Over the next three years, Gutsche and Miller created the Milton Park series, capturing the essence of a neighbourhood facing demolition. Their efforts were part of a broader initiative to preserve the community, with Gutsche’s photography serving as a powerful tool to document what was at risk of being destroyed.
“I was really committed to the idea of creating photographs that would make people aware of what they had before they lost it,” Gutsche recalls, noting the contributions of architect and philanthropist Phyllis Lambert, LLD 86, in saving the neighbourhood.
Lambert, who became a friend and mentor to Gutsche and Miller after visiting their exhibition on the series in 1973, founded the non-profit Héritage Montréal and was instrumental in establishing the Société d’Amélioration de Milton-Parc, Canada’s largest non-profit housing cooperative.
Gutsche’s early career was shaped by her community and mentors. She became a founding member of La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, an artist-run centre, and received guidance from Ron Solomon of the National Film Board’s Still Photography Division.
“Ron was just very, very important as a mentor to me and to many of the young francophone photographers as well. He created a community,” says Gutsche.
“The Women’s Centre, 3694, rue Sainte-Famille”, 1971, from the Milton Park series, 1970-1973.