PICTURES FOR SCREENS (2024)

Photography’s relationship to the truth has been a conscious concern of mine. Historically, the medium has been regarded for its ability to accurately depict reality and the photographic object as a form of proof or evidence. This idea of photography as an unbiased extension of the eye through the lens has always held little weight, conflicting against the concept of the elusive “true image”. Often forgotten is the eye itself. There is always an individual with motive and agency behind the photograph. Can we believe what we see even when it is captured?

Complicating matters is a changing visual culture. The photograph is no longer an object, rather a file and its ubiquity and accessibility across screens has begun to muddy the waters. A prevalent concern has spread that the immensity of digital image production and distribution is being curated no longer by humans but by machines and systems that can be easily manipulated; however, these claims often miss the larger issue. The melding of text, image, and authority has always been a recipe for the spread of misinformation and the existence of screen-based images has only contributed to its pervasiveness.

Using the authority provided by the gallery space, Pictures for Screens (2024) examines these ideas through a text and image based narrative following the recovered archive of the fictional lost film Breath of Smoke. The film’s plot–based on my own ancestral history–begins as a historical retelling of a family of four’s journey across Canada before unraveling significantly, becoming a surreal version of reality as anomalous elements invade the recovered production stills on display.