Montreal, like other major cities, has inspired an astonishing number of photographers intent on capturing the urban experience. For some, the camera has served as a coping mechanism with which to process the difficult aspects of city life. For others, it has provided a recording device to save vital facets of Montreal from being forgotten. For others still, it has been a means of self-expression integral to a personal creative process. Pounding the Pavement brings together thirty groups of work that exemplify the wide variety of approaches photographers have adopted when depicting the metropolis. What emerges from this unconventional assemblage is a history of Montreal, or at least a history of the ways Montrealers have used the street. The images occasionally reveal the city's beauty but more often convey its complexity, contradictions, diversity and comedy. Above all, they conjure the qualities that make some people want to leave Montreal -- and others want to stay forever.
