Photographe Paul Galipeau Ottawa Canada | lechampiondumonde.com

Willy Joy

Things got really crazy Friday night.

Art opening, dancing, cupcakes, flowers…

Chicago’s Willy Joy came to Ottawa and definitely delivered. Probably one of my favourite American DJs. Careful balance of awesome music and great attitude. I’ve never been to Chicago but there seems to be something great about that place.

Listen to a mix Willy did posted on Awkward Props blog

And now, the photos… click click click

Merry Christmas!

Comme remerciement d’avoir contribué à une année particulièrement excellente, je partage un clip du Père Noël que j’ai récemment enregistré lorsqu’il était récemment en visite à Ottawa. Cette production n’aurait pas été possible sans la participation des bonnes personnes aux Bergers de l’espoir et au Tea Store sur le marché By. Merci à tous!

Je vous souhaite tous un formidable temps des fêtes et une nouvelle année à ne pas oublier!

As a thank you for making 2009 a particularly stupendous year, I’d like to share a clip of Santa Claus that I recorded during a recent official visit he made in Ottawa. This was all made possible thanks to the good people at the Shepherds of Good Hope and the Tea Store in the Byward Market. Thanks to everyone!

So, here’s wishing you an absolutely fantastic holiday season and a very excellent new year!

Huge shout outs to my girl La Bolduc for providing the soundtrack.

Walking. Stop. Motion. Stache bash!

Here’s a quick stop motion I made for fun the other day. Truth be told, when I was in high school, video was my main area of interest before photography. I liked the story telling power that video had and was really excited when a few wicked people taught me Avid software at the age of 17. Evidently, I came out of that world a little but in the last year, almost by accident, I’ve started way more video work. I’m excited to see where this leads but for now, here’s a 72-photo 20-second clip. Big ups to my friend Meaghan for holding the microphone.

Now, for the second year, the dudes at M4K Ottawa had me on to take photos of all the Growers. This year, they managed to raise $28 000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Amazing. Check out the fruits of everyone’s labour by clicking the banner.

July Tour Recap

Recently, I went on a 20-day tour with a band I mention on here perhaps more often than I should. We left Ottawa on Canada Day (July 1, Yanks!) and left Winsdor back to Ottawa at 3:30am on July 20 morning. Even as a passenger, this was the most painful 8-hour drive ever.

Besides driving, there isn’t much to do on tour except watch bands and eat so here are some highlights.

Best eats of tour:
The Naam (Vancouver)
Pizza Luce (Minneapolis)
Mondragon (Winnipeg)
French Meadow Bakery & Café (Minneapolis)
Budgie’s Burritos (Vancouver)

Best bands of tour:
KENmode
Battlefields
Hewhocorrupts
KENmode (again)
Frontier
Portraits of Past

Crossing into the USA was nuts. Long story short, despite having visas and the necessary papers (uh, you know, uh, papers, business papers…), the whole ordeal took about 12 hours and a pair of two-hour searches to get six Canadians into the United States. Yikes.

We stopped in Grand Forks, ND for a bit and after spending some time in a cafe, I crossed a river by foot to East Grand Forks (Minesota!) to see The Hangover at a theatre with a snackbar that looked like a log cabin. Crossing the bridge, I’m pretty sure I witnessed a police boat searching for a dead body too. Thanks also to the girl with the green hair at the organic coop for hanging out and feeding us.

Here are a few photos. See more by clicking the banner at the bottom…

Camping near Swastika, Ontario.

Swastikas on top of The Royal Albert in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Driving in Saskatchewan.

Mike and Tweedy got thirsty. The only swimming of tour.

We thought this house was vacant so we parked in its backyard.

We were wrong.

Somewhere

Kamloops was awesome (no it wasn’t…but this dude was)

America

F(r)actions of Buried Inside enjoy Beyoncé

Click for more photos:

Notre Victoire

Victoire, this dope (mostly women’s) clothing store on Dalhousie at St. Patrick in Ottawa, launched a web store a few months ago and they asked if I would shoot some photos for it. The bosses of this boutique are hardly ordinary and despite my suggestion that product photos shot in studio against solid backgrounds might help sales, the only thing coming back to me was “No. We’re taking you to the country and buying you sorbet on the way home.”

OK fine… The customer is always right. Check out the location…

Also, Victoire will soon be celebrating their troisième anniversaire which is young but when shops like this open and close more often than I get haircuts, major pats on the back go to les filles continuously making their business baby grow. Obviously something is working.

There will be a flyer advertising the anniversary soon (I think there will be a party and a mix CD?) but in the mean time, here are some photos I from the webstore. Don’t forget to check it out and also their blog.

Oh PS: One brand they carry is Species by the Thousands, makers of some fine clothing and interesting jewelry pieces. Out of Brooklyn, they’re one of the only non-Canadian lines at Victoire but the spot is well deserved. I’ve talked about bearded faces on shirts before but thanks to Victoire, I now own one. Behold, la pièce de résistance. Comfy shirt too. I think it’s made by Alternative Apparel using some organic cotton mystery blend.

It might be from Brooklyn but I find there is something oddly centennial-era Canada about the illustration. Farley Mowat meets the Ookpik or something… Non?

Group show à La Petite Mort

Ce soir (le samedi 29 novembre 2008) à la gallerie La Petite Mort (306, rue Cumberland, Ottawa), une de mes photos sera en exposition parmi une collection de photos capturées par un groupe de photographes professionnels et amateurs avec des appareils jetables. L’expo, présentée par La Petite Mort en collaboration avec Amnistie Internationale, s’appel “Urban Eyes” est une célébration du 60e anniversaire de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme.

Come check it if you are around! It’ll be up until December 4.

PS: Remember when I was talking about bearded shirts? En voici un autre! It wins, I think.

Hairy t-shirts – plagiarism or coincidence?

There’s a cool band from the UK called Part Chimp who, in 2006, came out with a t-shirt design featuring a really hairy face on it as a means of promoting their album “I am come.”

Next, last spring, I saw that this clothing label called Brown Sound released a t-shirt called “Uncle Kyle” featuring an equally impressive amount of hair as a moustache/mouth/beard combo.

Now, I just found on Threadless, a t-shirt entitled “Lions Are Smarter Than I Am” designed by a dude named Keith Carter featuring a glasses-wearing lion with some serious mane action.

To me, there are neat similarities between these three but maybe you disagree. Kind of neat anyway.

Part Chimp “I am come” 2006.

Brown Sound “Uncle Kyle” 2008.

Keith Carter “Lions Are Smarter Than I Am” 2008.