about the exhibits

Portraits of a Music City is an Ottawa 200th project that brings together eight established photographers from the Ottawa region, each paired with an emerging photographer as their mentee, and transforms eight local cafés and community spaces across Ottawa into satellite photography galleries. The month-long photography exhibition and mentorship initiative celebrates the people, spaces, and stories that make Ottawa’s music scene unique and recognizes the important role photographers play in documenting a city’s cultural history. Concerts end, venues change and music scenes evolve, but photographs preserve the artists, audiences, spaces and moments that defined them. Each location becomes its own portal into Ottawa’s music scene, revealing a different collection of artists, performances, personalities and moments.

Together, the eight exhibitions form a larger visual narrative of a city shaped by music.The goal is not simply to document performances, but to capture the identity, energy and human connections behind Ottawa’s music culture.

Ottawa, Ontario