Montreal-based photographer, Melrick A. Jean-Philippe also known as Qauffee, explores ways of capturing the Black community. His goal is to represent Black people in unique manners and environments. His upcoming exposition, DEKABÈS, on Feb. 15, 2025, at Maison de l’Afrique 6256 Av Henri Julien, will focus on Haitian culture, which also connects to his heritage.
DEKABÈS, is a Hatian Creole expression meaning a double victory in dominoes or the lottery. It will focus on Haitian music and Qauffee aims to create a safe space for people to have community gatherings to exhibit individual and collective works and consequently, bring together the Haitian community in Montreal.
Qauffee was inspired to begin his photography journey after he was a 19-year-old intern at the non-governmental organization Right2Know in Johannesburg, South Africa. He documented the community in Johannesburg through videos, photos, articles, and research.
“Being able to put everything that I was experiencing in images and videos so that people could relate and understand what my purpose in Johannesburg was; I didn’t take it for granted,” Qauffee said. ”To have the opportunity to give a voice to what I was experiencing.”
He expressed his appreciation for sharing his work with others and his love for photography is why he started doing it. He has been photographing the Black community professionally for four years now.
Qauffee explained that he is focusing on Black people to show diversity and to show the world that there is not only one image for Black communities.
“I’ve been trying to travel a lot and see where I could meet Black people worldwide and talk about their experiences with being Black. Like in Europe or being Black in Asia,” Qauffee said. “My purpose is to be able to portray everyone in every kind of environment. Anyone could look at my pictures, feel something, and relate to what they see.”
Qauffee’s favourite photography styles are portraits and street photos. He said he likes getting to know people before taking a portrait of them, as one key element of getting a good photo is trusting each other. Street photography caught his attention because of its transparency.
“I like to do street photography only because there’s no filter, there’s no light arrangement. What I see, you see it too,” Qauffee said.
Tickets for the event are retailing on Eventluv at $17 more information can be found on: https://eventluv.ca/products/dekabes-ii.
