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The Camera is an Instrument

Multiple Artists

October 20, 2023 - December 15, 2023

College Art Gallery 1 and 2

Curated by Leah Taylor

Drawn from the University of Saskatchewan Art Collection, The Camera is an Instrument examines multiple methods, forms, and narratives employed by artists working in varied photographic media. Challenging the notion of the photograph as a document, these artists explore the intersectional relationships between image production, culture, history, architecture, geography, and political action, often derived from encounters with the everyday. Philosopher Susan Sontag posited that “Photographs have a use in giving us a mental picture of things, but they always hide more than they reveal.”With overlapping themes found throughout the exhibition, the selections include works from the collection’s holdings of photographic series from artists such as Randy Burton, Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge, Brenda Pelkey, Frank Pimental, Jayce Salloum, and Douglas Walker.

The expansion of photography through technological advances contributed to the insurgence of altering, staging, and collaging images, revealing the many modes that artists employ when considering the relationship between performance and the camera. Through varied conceptual frameworks The Camera is an Instrument raises questions about personal, social, and collective concerns, with a focus on photographs that present both subjects and scenes in public and private spheres.

 


1 Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Dell Publ, 1977. 

 

Images: 
1) Randy Burton, ‘Kindersley Drive-In’, 1983, silver gelatin on paper. Collection of the University of Saskatchewan. Gift of the artist, 1996.
2) Robert Del Tredici, ‘Peace March in New York City’, 1980, photograph on paper. Collection of the University of Saskatchewan. Gift of Chester Pelkey, 2005.

Artists

Randy Burton, Carole Conde, Karl Beveridge, Robert Del Tredici, Brenda Pelkey, Frank Pimental, Jayce Salloum, Douglas Walker, and others.