Gabrielle de Montmollin was born in Toronto. After studying political science at Carleton University in Ottawa she worked in television at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and pursued an interest in independent film-making. She moved on to still photography once she discovered it was the medium best suited to her unique vision and independent nature. For many years she worked exclusively with black and white film photographing throwaway plastic toys and dolls arranged in constructed, fantasy settings. More recently, in addition to her personal imaginings, she has worked to find visual expression for her feelings about social justice issues and politics,
Montmollin has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, the United States, Belgium, Italy, France and The Netherlands. She exhibited in Contact, Toronto’s Month of Photography Festival three times (2003, 2007, 2016). She was a member of The Red Head Gallery, an artists’ collective in Toronto from 2012 to 2016. She now lives in Welland, Ontario with artist Tony Calzetta who is the other half of their art collaboration known as Art is Hell.