A Telling Portrait presented selections from Michael Mitchell’s personal collection and his own work as a writer, filmmaker and photographer. This exhibition explored the relationship between creator and collector, drawing parallels between the photographs that Mitchell collected and the work that he has created.

In his writing, Mitchell has used the phrase “a telling portrait” to address the potential photography has in creating a portrait of our time and our civilization. The selection of work presented in this exhibition demonstrated the many facets of Mitchell’s approach to the medium. Each wall was organized thematically, from portraits of people, Mitchell’s anthropological explorations, and altered landscapes that allude to the impact of human presence. As Mitchell has said, “you take pictures in order to understand things, to understand the world, and to understand yourself”--both his work and collection speak to this.

I was co-creator of a digital accompaniment to the exhibition, which catalogued and described each item in Michael Mitchell’s collection. This exhibition was featured in the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2015.

Click here to view A Telling Portrait’s catalogue.  

Dates and Venue:
April 29 - May 31, 2015
The Ryerson Image Centre

Exhibition Design by:
Ingrid Forster
Laura Gentili
Liisa Graham
Elizabeth Larew
Cassandra Zappieri

Publication Design by:
Jessica Glasgow
Kasia Laszczuk
Carla-Jean Stokes
Lisa Yarnell

Digital Component by:
Prachi Khandekar
Samantha Diaram

Supported by:
The Howard and Carole Tanenbaum Family Foundation
Ryerson Image Centre
Ryerson School of Image Art