The Camera is an Instrument

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Randy Burton, “Kindersley Drive-In,” 1983

silver gelatin on paper (collection of the University of Saskatchewan, gift of the artist, 1996)

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.”¹ 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.