Robotic Farm - from the series Convergence

Today, I’m pleased to announce the opening of Exhibition No. 16 at the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO). 

Obviously, given the current situation in Ontario, the exhibition opening will be online. But that’s ok because the theme of my work is really about living in a virtual world. For my project Convergence, I photographed circuit boards and then altered them in post-production to look like cityscapes. The alterations are subtle: you have to look closely at the images to realize they are not what they first appear to be. My hypothesis is that the line between human and machine is becoming increasingly blurry. 

If anything, the pandemic has accelerated this phenomenon: advances in A.I., robotics, virtual meetings, fake news, deep fakes have changed our world. While our smartphones have literally become an extension of our bodies, a physical brain/machine interface is not far away. For a technophile, the technology is astonishing, but I think for some it’s scary as hell. 

At the core of my photography practice I am exploring the impact of science and technology on the human experience. Simply put, I’m interested in how people and societies adapt to increasingly rapid technological change. 

Like many, I’ve experienced the trauma of unexpected change. In 2017, after my long career in high-tech ended abruptly, my mental health declined rapidly. I literally began to lose my perception of reality. Fortunately for me, thanks to my wife, my family, and my friends — and with the passing of time — I managed to pull myself out of it. 

We all think that we have full control over what we perceive as ‘reality’. My experience continues to remind me that this is simply not so. The human psyche is fragile, and we see evidence of this every day. 

My photography grounds me. Through these works I’ve been able to follow my passion and express my ideas. I hope that when you view my art you will enjoy what you see and feel free to interpret it however you see fit: there is no right or wrong answer, no black or white, no right or left — it’s up to you to define your reality. 

You can view my work on this website, but please also take a look at the exhibition on SPAO’s website along with the other emerging-artists in my graduating class. 

 - cjs

PS — To further emphasize the virtual world we live in, I’ve made some of my work available as digital art by “tokenizing” it on Opensea.io. You can now use your digital currency to purchase a limited edition, original work of art that doesn’t actually exist in the physical world!