PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
March 2006 – Ukraine
When I was very young, I had the recurring nightmare of a Soviet nuclear attack. In April 1986, following the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, this fear of nuclear power increased. Then, the years passed and I had almost forgotten this event when I saw a documentary about Pripyat, the ghost town near the plant, a few months before the 20e anniversary of the disaster. I went there for a report which allowed me to reconcile myself with my fears of youth. Here, one of the many day care centers left abandoned a few days after the 1986 explosion.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
August 2008 – Alberta
Everything related to the environment appeals to me. When my employer asked me to document oil sands mining in Alberta, I accepted immediately. I expected easy reporting, but soon realized that the people involved in this industry were protecting their investment well. Impossible to approach the discharge facilities and other polluted basins. Even the pilots refused to fly over them. After days, however, I found a young airman sensitive to the environmental cause who allowed me to illustrate the extent of the rampage.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
December 2011 – Quebec
That year, the sports section of The Press asked me to do a series of original portraits of the next generation. I had to find places and concepts related to the personal interests of the chosen athletes. I remember this session very well: we were in Quebec to immortalize the cyclist David Boily. The administrators of the Capitole de Québec welcomed us in a magnificent room. Result: a funny portrait in a warm and padded atmosphere.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
April 2012 — Montreal
The demonstrators took to the streets day after day in the spring of 2012. On April 20, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Salon Plan Nord at the Palais des Congrès, Premier Jean Charest set fire to the powder by launching this demonstrators: “To those who knocked on our door this morning, we can offer them a job. In the North, as much as possible…” A few minutes later, the pickaxe on this photo began to strike hard in the Montreal asphalt to provide the protesters with projectiles.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
December 2012 – Montreal
At the end of 2011, I was mandated to cover the annual visit of Montreal Canadiens players to sick children at Sainte-Justine Hospital. I had photographed a little princess receiving a kiss on the hand from defender Hal Gill. This photo touched many readers. A year later, I went back to visit the Bleau-Côté family to hear from Gabrielle. It was a proud princess with much more energy who received us that day. No more illness, only happiness!
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
July 2013 – Lac-Mégantic
On the night of July 6, 2013, a runaway train and its fuel sowed chaos and death in downtown Lac-Mégantic, in the Eastern Townships. A few days later, I was dispatched to the scene to document the disaster. The authorities had installed a visual protection fence about ten feet high which blocked the view of the rubble of the most affected area. While circulating in the neighborhood, I was able to climb onto the balcony of a duplex, which allowed me to capture this scene of desolation.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
March 2017 – Montreal
In 2012, my friend Annick, who works at Le Phare Enfants et Familles, asked me to do a report on pediatric palliative care. For a father of three children, including a newborn, it was too intense a subject. So I refused. In 2017, I revived the idea. I immersed myself body and soul in this project and I was extremely touched by the resilience of the children. I also discovered a world of specialists, volunteers and parents who do everything for their happiness, until the end. Since then, the word palliative has taken on a very different meaning to me.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
April 2019 — Montreal
That spring, I was asked to photograph the journey of Octavie Lambert, who was awaiting a double lung and liver transplant. Each encounter was charged with emotion and hope. As the months passed, however, his health declined. On October 25, 2019, she entered intensive care. Despite everything, she remained optimistic. But on November 7, it was necessary to go urgently to the Hospital Center of the University of Montreal in order to meet the family of Octavie… to attend his last moments of life. It was trying. Like her, I had kept hoping for a happy ending. Octavie passed away on November 9, 2019.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
July 2022 – Montreal
During the summer of 2022, many colleagues and I were called upon to document the digital story “The invisible epidemic” by Philippe Mercure, on the scourge of overdoses in Quebec. I was able to follow the daily life of the specialists at the D clinicD Marie-Ève Goyer and get to know young people, and not so young people, struggling with addictions to powerful drugs. I’ve mostly met sensitive, kind-hearted humans like you and me who unfortunately, one day, crossed paths with opioids.