Alexandre Campeau-Vallée, a Montreal-based photographer and researcher, is presenting a new exhibition at the Niagara Falls History Museum’s Ontario Power Generation Gallery. Picture Yourself Here: The Photographic Attraction of Niagara Falls runs from August 9, 2026 to January 10, 2027, and was produced in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in Urban Landscape.
The exhibition traces how photography has shaped the identity of Niagara Falls since the site’s first photograph was taken in 1840. It pairs new images Campeau-Vallée created specifically for the project with historical artifacts from the museum’s collection. Campeau-Vallée describes photography as “a form of landscape planning,” and sees Niagara Falls, where imagery has shaped both public perception and the physical development of the site, as an ideal case for reflecting on our relationship with the environment.
The UNESCO Chair in Urban Landscape contributed to the exhibition’s conception and scenography, working with Campeau-Vallée on how photographs and archival artifacts are staged together in the gallery. The project connects to the Chair’s Rivers in Commons initiative, a comparative research program on continental river systems around the world. Niagara Falls, one of the most iconic segments of the St. Lawrence River system, offers a striking case for the initiative’s broader inquiry into how rivers shape, and are shaped by, the territories and imaginaries built around them.
Campeau-Vallée holds a master’s degree in Environment and Sustainable Development from Université de Montréal and is completing a research-creation PhD in Art History. His work has been exhibited in Quebec and Toronto, and he has presented on photography and the environment in Quebec, Europe and Africa.
The exhibition is included with regular museum admission at the Niagara Falls History Museum, 5810 Ferry Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario. More information: nfexchange.ca/museum