This catalogue was produced by Image Arts students enrolled in NPF 548, Movements and Issues in Contemporary Photography, during the Winter 2024 term.

While the course has been taught in varying formats in previous years, it took a markedly different form in 2024: hybrid learning models were increasingly in use, and the AI genie was well out of its bottle – to the point where new image-generation models could be seen emerging almost week by week.

This effective interlacing of different systems of representation animated much of the course discussion, and led to the title of this year’s publication, as well as to the essential argument of Aiden Milroy’s introduction, Interrogating the Image. As Milroy pointed out:

Photography is often described as the truthful artform, an unbiased extension of the eye through the lens….

Representation has always been intertwined with the image-making process. Photography is a visual representation of the world, yet… [i]t’s hard to argue for the truthfulness of an image when behind it is always an individual with their own thoughts and feelings….

All is and has been up for grabs.

The work presented in this catalogue can be considered a collection of narratives: some told, some implied, some yet untold. Some images are memories, some are illusions, some are visions, but all address questions of truth, and each image-maker uses these questions to inform and express their own truth about how they see the world.

The design and sequencing of work for this catalogue was contributed by Tanvi Parikh, and both the cover image and introductory essay are by Aiden Milroy. The entire project was generously supported by the School of Image Arts, with particular thanks to Katy McCormick, Darren Cerkownyk, Jane O’Donnell, and Michelle Fletcher.