Wade Comer

Wade Comer is a working artist. He loves art, architecture, history, mythology, cooking, travel, being in the water, philosophy and sharing ideas.

Through photography his work investigates two concepts: How We See,
and Humanity’s Effect On Our Environment.

Growing up, Wade Comer lived in Vancouver, Canada, he was surrounded by nature that shapes his work – both through its immense presence, and by the way nature has been effected by humanity’s mark upon it. The scale, textures and shapes of the environment lend themselves to be active participants in How We See, while the ruggedness, and remoteness of mountains and ocean often hide in plain view the symbols of Humanity’s Effect On Nature.

How We See
Encompasses a large number of projects that question our vision and sense or perception while capitalizing on the opportunities the camera provides to see differently. How We See is the more abstract or expressionist of the two concepts, using the camera more a painting tool that as a conventional recording device.

Through various photographic techniques, I make images that utilize the attributes of the camera that the human eye cannot achieve—especially in capturing time. Long-exposures, multiple–exposures, and the flattening of space are techniques that cannot be achieved with the naked eye, yet highlight memory and emotion all the same. These techniques are used to provoke the viewer to consider what they are seeing, how they see, and see differently. Projects include: Time Passages (2013 – Present), Persistence of Vision (2020 – present), Tapestry (2020 – Present), and Panoptic (2018 – Present).

Humanity’s Effect On Our Environment
looks at the world around us and records what we leave behind. Much can be said about us by what we leave behind, and my work over the past twenty years have investigated this detritus. Much like Irving Penn and his Cigarettes series, I have focused on the remnants of humanity – the things left behind, the discarded object, the thing you walk by everyday but never really look at. Taking an extraterrestrial view I have found fascination in the everyday. Projects include: Forlorn Furniture (1998—ongoing); Bikes (2005–2012); Carnage (2008); Pyres (2009–2013); Geodic (2016); Antediluvian (2014 – 2020), and Isolation (2020), all documenting the way humanity has left its mark on the world around us.