Chuck Samuels
Photography is Chuck Samuels' medium. It is also his subject. Since his first exhibition in 1980, he has been obsessively questioning how photography (and, to a lesser extent, cinema) works and doesn’t work. In many of his projects he has appropriated existing imagery, delved into various archives of photographic and/or cinematic practices, and/or photographed (and filmed) himself to examine these issues. In some ways, he uses himself as a surrogate for photography – by focusing the camera on himself, he is turning the spectator’s gaze upon the very nature of the medium, thus sharing his fascination, obsession, as well as his profound distrust of photography and in the history in which he was educated. In an essay on his work, Catalan artist, curator and critic Joan Fontcuberta asserted that: "...if the history of photography were a ship, Chuck Samuels would be a stowaway, but one who had boarded the vessel not for a free ride but in order to start a mutiny."
During his residency at Fonderie Darling, Samuels conducts studio photography for a new project named Crime and Photography. This project reconsiders an early example of photography in the service of the apparatus of the state. Specifically, it will address the work of Alphonse Bertillon who was active in the Paris police force from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Inventor of the mug shot, Bertillon also developed, introduced, and disseminated one of the first, if not, the first systematic approaches to forensic photography. Crime and Photography aims to create a space for viewers to reflect on some of the initial and current uses of photography by the state, as well as the medium at large.
The artist gratefully acknowledges Fonderie Darling for accepting his residency proposal and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec who supported Crime and Photography with a Creation Grant.
Biography
Born in 1956 in Montréal, where he still lives and works, Chuck Samuels graduated from Concordia University in 1987 with a Master of Fine Arts. His photographs have been exhibited and published extensively in Québec, Canada, and abroad since 1980 while his installation and video works have been shown in various venues, including several film/video festivals in Canada. He has been the recipient of several grants and residencies and his 2021 publication, Chuck Samuels: Becoming Photography was shortlisted for the 21|22 Deutscher Fotobuch Preis (German Photo Book Award). Samuels' photographs are part of the collections of La Maison européenne de la photographie, Le Musée de la Photographie, the George Eastman Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, Le Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Worcester Art Museum and the Cinémathèque québécoise as well as many Canadian and foreign private collections.
Recent exhibitions
| 2023 | Le Parcours photographique, group exhibition, 41st International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-Saint-Paul, QC |
| 2022 | CAMP@CLAMP, group exhibition, CLAMP, New York, US |
| 2021 | Becoming Photography, solo exhibition, Expression, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC & Plein sud, Longueuil, QC |
| 2020 | After & On Photography, solo exhibition, Espaces F, Matane, QC |
Origin
Montreal, Canada