What is the meaning of the barriers mankind chooses to erect? Are they an ultimate dead end, a challenge to be transcended, or merely a reality to be contemplated? These are some of the questions Toronto-based photographer Scott Johnston seems to pose in his fascinating new exhibition "Obstacle." In recent exhibitions documenting the demolition of Toronto churches, abandoned homes in the Bridle Path area and the dying days of the Regent Park housing complex, Johnston has demonstrated his gift for taking overlooked and counterintuitive scenes of urban decay and transforming them into artistic imagery
"Obstacle" is his latest and boldest statement yet about how far one can stray from the more conventional and expected subject matter of photography to create striking photos of compelling originality. Indeed, some of the photos so cleverly avoid any recognizable form that they exist in a hazy continuum where photography ends and abstract art begins. The photos of "Obstacle" lack any obvious centre or focal point, and the actual objects represented --for example, parking blocks, rolled up fences, metal bars, stones--are so sterile that of themselves they are utterly devoid of humanity or intrinsic interest. Yet Johnston triumphs by recognizing composition in these most unlikely places; his framing of these lifeless obstacles radiates a tangible energy and constitutes a celebration of line, colour, pattern and structure. Johnston imbues his photographs with so much life that it is a bit of a shock to consider that people almost never appear in his images. As Johnston puts it, "I want the viewers to place themselves in the photograph, with their own sense of history or perception."
In the case of "Obstacle," the viewer can approach the drama of Johnston's photography with a sense of wonder and consider the questions these images seem to force upon us: How can the individual deal with the things that physically or mentally stop us in our lives? Some people tend to throw more crap in front of themselves, adding to the crap that is already there, so stumbling through life is going to be unavoidable. Can we get around these obstacles or are we destined to be stuck in the same place? Despite progress, why does humanity always seem to run into a wall, usually of our own making? Can we break through, or are we doomed to continually make the same habitual mistakes? As always, in the wonderful photography of Scott Johnston the answers are both suggested and yet teasingly elusive, for one is never quite sure whether the curtain is rising or falling.
