During the celebrated career of Stan Douglas (1981-present) photography has played a vital role in his artistic development. The exhibition at the Ryerson Image Centre will emphasize the significance of the photographic image in the critical and historical reception of Stan Douglas’ approach to art and media.

The stories, sites and events that Douglas explores are populist, literate and timely. Frequently, his photographs describe the overlooked histories of cultural identity, displacement and injustice that reveal an uncanny resemblance to present-day events. This is achieved through an insightful attention to photography as both medium and subject. Folding the spectator into the visual culture of memory and oblivion that photographs evoke initiates profound observations about the ubiquity of photography in contemporary culture.

The continuous fluctuations in optical technology, the reduction of images to non-linear data and the everyday use of photography in social media have resulted in challenging questions regarding how photographs are made, used and distributed. The photographs of Stan Douglas affirm the validity and volatility of the photographic medium at this decisive moment in the history of art and photography.

The Scotiabank Photography Award (SPA) is designed to raise the international profile of Canada’s leading photographic artists. For more information please visit: www.scotiabankphotoaward.com.