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The story behind the exhibition

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The digital exhibition Marie-Alice Dumont : A photography pioneer in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region) is part of a series of projects that the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent (MBSL) has dedicated to this remarkable photographer from the Kamouraska area.

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1947Photographe: Photographer: Marie-Alice Dumont

From the 1940s onwards, the young women who came to Dumont’s studio increasingly adopted relaxed poses that were less conventional and more “modern.” Perhaps they were even considered a little daring, too. Would this have been at the photographer’s suggestion or at her clients’ request? Probably a bit of both because both the photographer and her subjects wanted to be fashionable. The two portraits of Gaétane Bélanger in the Dumont collection are similar: the subject is seated, captured from the waist up and posed at an angle, the body relaxed, her eyes focused away from the camera. Here, her chin is resting on both hands poised on a cushion, as if Gaétane were being photographed in a natural moment of contemplation.

10 cm X 12 cmMarie-Alice Dumont collection, MBSL, d8004
A young woman posing in a studio, chin resting on her hands which are resting on a cushion.

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1956Photographe: Photographer: Marie-Alice Dumont

During his visit to Dumont’s studio, Jacques Thériault posed three times. First, the photographer set him up rather conventionally, posing him in bust form. Then, the young man sat with his two brothers for a group photo. Finally, perhaps at the request of Marie-Alice Dumont, he is seated in an armchair, a casual elbow on the backrest, neck resting on his hand. Which portrait did he like best?

8 cm X 12 cmMarie-Alice Dumont collection, MBSL, d6375b
Studio bust portrait of a young man seated, with the back of his neck supported by one of his hands.

Marie-Alice Dumont (1892-1985) had her own photography studio in Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska. Between 1920 and 1961, she produced thousands of negatives, about 10,000 of which have survived to this day.

In 1981, the MBSL, which already held a substantial collection of photographic archives, acquired the Marie-Alice Dumont collection, which includes photographs, negatives, as well as artefacts and archives that belonged to her (cameras, printing equipment, frames, account books, etc.).

Also in 1981, the MBSL collaborated on a first exhibition of about fifty photographs taken by Dumont, held at the Foyer Villa Maria. This was the only exhibition organized during the artist’s lifetime. The Museum subsequently dedicated a more substantial exhibition to her in 1990 (Marie-Alice Dumont, photographe), complemented by an exhibition catalogue. Then, a travelling exhibition showcasing her work was put into circulation in 1999 (Mademoiselle Marie-Alice Dumont). Finally, the negatives produced by Dumont were made accessible to the public as part of the Cyberphotos project (2001-2004), which included the digitization and online publication of the Museum’s photographic archives collection.

In 2020, the MBSL commissioned historian Olivier Guimond to conduct research on Marie-Alice Dumont and her work as a photographer in preparation for a digital exhibition aimed at young audiences, a project funded by Digital Museums Canada. The production of this new exhibition began in 2021 and was completed in 2025. In parallel, the MBSL also prepared a second travelling exhibition dedicated to Dumont (Marie-Alice Dumont. In Conversation with Raymonde April), curated by Oriane Asselin-Van Coppenolle and which began circulation in 2025. A 200-page book (Marie-Alice Dumont), edited by Olivier Guimond and Oriane Asselin-Van Coppenolle, has also been produced in 2025 as a complement to the travelling exhibition.

This digital exhibition is a unique contribution to the MBSL’s efforts to promote Dumont’s work. Indeed, it is the most accessible and complete information resource on the photographer’s life and work. It contextualizes Dumont’s life and photographic practice, documents and characterizes her work, and presents her family history.

In addition to the hundreds of photographs it contains, all accompanied by descriptive labels, this exhibition offers other original content. First, users can immerse themselves in the former Studio Dumont as well as the photographer’s former darkroom through immersive and interactive reconstructions (section II and III of The Studio chapter). These reconstructions are also available in simplified versions on these sections of the exhibition: The Studio Dumont and The Darkroom. Next, the exhibition offers five original videos focusing on the history of Dumont and photography in the chapters The Trade (sections II, III, IV and V) and The Studio (section III), in addition to an interview with Daria Dumont, keeper of the memory of her “Aunty Alice” (The Family chapter, section VI). Finally, the exhibition makes a well-kept secret accessible online: an interview conducted with Marie-Alice Dumont herself, in 1981 (The Trade chapter, section VI).

Marie-Alice Dumont’s pioneering work remains little known to the general public. Yet, this woman is significant to the history of photography in Quebec. Our hope is that this digital exhibition will contribute to raising awareness of her work.

Selected Bibliography

To learn more about Marie-Alice Dumont, women photographers, or photography in Quebec and Canada, the titles in this selected bibliography can be consulted:

ADLER, Laura and BOUVERESSE, Clara. Les femmes photographes sont dangereuses. Paris, Flammarion, 2024, 160 p.

BASNETT, Sarah and PARSONS, Sarah. Photography in Canada, 1839-1989. An Illustrated History. Massey College, Université de Toronto, Art Canada Institute / Institut de l’art canadien, 2023, 494 p. https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/photography-in-canada-1839-1989/

BOUCHARD Guy and JEAN, Régis. Aux limites de la mémoire : photographies du Québec, 1900-1930. Québec, Publications du Québec, 1995, 215 p.

BUREAU, Lucie. Sous l’oeil de la photographe. Portraits de femmes 1898-2003. Val-d’Or, Centre d’exposition de Val-d’Or, 2004, 39 p.

BUREAU, Lucie. “Le portrait photographique au Québec. Les cas de Sally Eliza Wood (1857-1928) et de Marie-Alice Dumont (1892-1985).” Master’s thesis (Art history), Université de Montréal, 2007.

BOUCHER, Flavie et al. Mise au point sur la photographie québécoise. Montreal, CCDMD, 2025. https://miseaupoint.ccdmd.qc.ca/

GUIMOND, Olivier. “Marie-Alice Dumont : pionnière de la photographie au Bas-Saint-Laurent.” In BOUCHER, Flavie et al. Mise au point sur la photographie québécoise. Montréal, CCDMD, 2025. https://miseaupoint.ccdmd.qc.ca/etudes-de-cas/marie-alice-dumont-pionniere-de-la-photographie-au-bas-saint-laurent/

GUIMOND, Olivier and ASSELIN-VAN COPPENOLLE, Oriane (ed.). Marie-Alice Dumont. Rivière-du-Loup, Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, 2025, 200 p. [Bilingual publication]

JEAN, Régis and ROY, Isabelle. Mademoiselle Marie-Alice Dumont, photographe. Rivière-du-Loup, Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, 1991, 40 p.

JONES, Laura. Rediscovery: Canadian Women Photographers, 1841-1941. London, Ontario, London Regional Art Gallery, 1983, 36 p.

LANGFORD, Martha. A History of Photography in Canada, Volume 1. Anticipation to Participation, 1839-1918. Montreal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025, 600 p.

MARCIL, Madeleine. “Femmes et photographie au Québec (1830-1940).” Master’s thesis (Art studies), Université du Québec à Montréal, 1990, 300 p.

MARCIL, Madeleine. “Images de femmes. Les Québécoises photographes.” Cap-aux-Diamants, no 21, 1990, p. 39-41.

MUSÉE DU BAS-SAINT-LAURENT. Cyberphotos: Marie-Alice Dumont. 2025 (2001). https://cyberphotos.ca/collection/149235/marie-alice-dumont

ROSENBLUM, Naomi. A history of women photographers. New York, N. Y., Abbeville Press, 2010 (1994), 432 p.

SKIDMORE, Colleen. Rare Merit. Women in Photography in Canada, 1840-1940. Vancouver, UBC Press, 2022, 356 p.

THE MUSÉE DU BAS SAINT LAURENT

The Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent (MBSL), located in Rivière-du-Loup, has a mission to acquire, conserve, research, disseminate, and mediate contemporary and current Quebec art, photographic archives of Eastern Quebec, and professional artists from the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. The Bas-Saint-Laurent institution contributes to the influence of culture and artists by creating exhibitions, cultural mediation activities, as well as educational and community programs. As a true local museum, the MBSL is rooted in its community and contributes to revitalizing the region’s cultural environment.

Website: https://www.mbsl.qc.ca/en