Louis Cameron
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Born 1973, Columbus Ohio; lives in Berlin, Germany
Amazon #7, #5, #3, 2016; Dye sublimation print on aluminum; 10 1/4 x 15 3/8 inches/26 x 39 cm
In a striking and comparative portrait series titled Amazon, Louis Cameron takes on the abuse and misuse of user data by third parties. Addressing the controversial technology behind facial recognition, Cameron takes the photographs of his participants using the Amazon.com app. What results is a type of mapping of the face by points of light that signify unique components of each face. Because the app is designed to scan an image to see if it is inventory, the fact that the technology manages to interpret human facial features as product highlights the commodification behind our online activities.
Aesthetically, the portraits have a clinical or Sci-Fi appearance, but once we realize the source of the bright dots, we begin to see the vulnerability of the individual represented. Magnified out to a societal level, these become cautionary, even frightening, in their suggestion for what it means for each one of us.
Cameron earned a B.F.A. from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia. Working in painting and photography, his practice encompasses the creation of portraits and abstractions that engage the traditions Surrealism and Dada.
Cameron has had solo exhibitions and projects at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri; The Kitchen, New York; The Armory Show, New York; and the Saint Louis Art Museum. He has also participated in group exhibitions in the United States and abroad at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Texas; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, United Kingdom; Paris Photo, France; and the Dakar Biennial, Senegal. Cameron has participated in the Artist-in-Residence program at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York and has been a Fellow in Painting with the New York Foundation for the Arts. His work is in the collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; the International Center of Photography, New York; JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, New York; and the Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri.
Cameron has taught at Princeton University, Yale University, and Brooklyn College amongst other institutions.
Images courtesy of the artist
