artist biography
Stéphane Ippersiel is an Ottawa-based photographer and yoga teacher. Before focusing on his passions, he spent thirty years managing communications teams for the Government of Canada.
At the intersection of his two greatest passions, Stéphane’s been creating portraits of yogis since 2012. He aims to uncover and present a bit of the yogi’s spirit, while celebrating the beauty of the human body in motion, and advocating for yoga as a lifelong wellness modality.
His portraiture style harkens back to 1980s commercial photography, with the use of flash being a prominent feature. Stéphane’s influences include Annie Leibovitz, Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Mark Seliger and Albert Watson.
Though portraits are his main interest, his lens is also trained on public art installations and architecture. Through-lines in his body of work are the shapes, tension and grace of both the human form and human-created structures.
He has long been fascinated by environmental art, awestruck by the incongruous juxtaposition of over-sized pieces showing up in seemingly random places. “There’s something poetic about these massive, unflinching structures—sometimes brutal and jagged, made from skyscraper materials—resting unassumingly in serene, peaceful, pastoral settings.”
Stéphane has been studying photography at the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) since 2018, and has been mentored by its Director of Education, Michael Tardioli, since 2022. He is a member of Altern Studio, a collective of lens-based artists.
exhibitions
2025
2024
TDB / Amplification / Ottawa / Altern Studio group exhibition / Ottawa School of Dance
9.20-2.15 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Arnprior / Solo exhibition / Union 108
7.13-8.24 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / SoulSpeak
5.30-9.2 / Selected works / Toronto / Solo exhibition / Red Tape Brewery
5.8-5.21 / Amplification / Toronto / Altern Studio group exhibition / CONTACT Photography Festival
4.11-5.2 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Gatineau / Solo exhibition / Aura Studio Yoga
3.22-4-14 / Selected works / Ottawa / APEX Juried Exhibition / SPAO
3.21-4.11 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Arnprior / Solo exhibition / Union 108
3.7-3.21 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / Yogatown Barrhaven
2.23-3.10 / Sometimes Brutal / Ottawa / Group exhibition / SPAO
2.22-3.7 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / Yogatown Preston
2.8-2.22 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / Yogatown Stittsville
1.23-2.6 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / MODO Yoga Orleans
2023
11.21-12.12 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / Pure Yoga Centretown
10.30-11.20 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / Pure Yoga Westboro
10.8-10.29 / BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa / Ottawa / Solo exhibition / PranaShanti Yoga Centre
3.31-4-15 / Selected works / Ottawa / APEX Juried Exhibition / SPAO
3.24-3.26 / Selected works / Ottawa / Altern Studio inaugural group exhibition / Rockliffe
books
2024 - BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa
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