JASON NESSLER - EXPOSURE EMERGING PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOWCASE

My work takes a critical view of our inability or unwillingness to communicate, which causes us to formulate perspectives and opinions based solely on distorted perceptions of others. As a society we no longer embrace conversation and civil debate, discarding the past practice of presenting rational arguments and active listening in favour of rushing to establish absolute positions based solely on emotion and limited information. We appear content to formulate perceptions of others based solely on approximate, obscured, and incomplete information.

The glass in my images—along with its associated reflections, refractions, and discontinuities— is a metaphor for the barriers we encounter when communicating. We see each other, and we can sometimes correctly infer the emotions of others through obscured visual cues, but our words cannot reach the participant on the other side. Instead of a civil exchange exploring differing views, conversations are reduced to participants guessing what the other party is saying, often escalating at ever-increasing volumes, that do nothing to allow messages to be heard. As time passes, the glass gathers a film of dirt and dust, further degrading our ability to see clearly, making communication increasingly difficult. An eventual indifference to the company and perspectives of others develops, resulting in little more than coexistence in isolation. While detail in some areas can be easily interpreted, reality blurs near the edges and becomes indecipherable in an indeterminate sea of grey.

BIOGRAPHY

Calgary-based photographer Jason Nessler approaches his work from a journalistic perspective, capturing images of people as they interact with urban environments, in an effort to understand the causes of our ever-increasing social indifference. Motivated by his frustration with the perpetual degradation of societal values, his primary goals are to raise awareness of the issue and initiate important conversations to stimulate positive change.