Archetypes

Archetypes is a self-reflective photographic project that explores identity, isolation, and emotional resonance through the lens of sound and environment.

Music is central to Canyon’s creative process - it dictates the rhythm, tone, and visual emotion of each frame. The artist never photographs in silence; instead, the mood of a song becomes the invisible texture of the image.

In this series, Canyon turns the camera toward himself, embracing self-portraiture as a legitimate and expressive art form. What began as a practical choice, creating in solitude, evolved into a study of self-presentation and personal mythology. The project challenges the viewer to see the self not as an act of ego, but as a universal archetype through which emotion and experience are translated.

Influenced by Mitski’s album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, Archetypes channels a sense of contemporary brutalism raw, austere, and deeply introspective. Created in the context of a country enduring more than a decade of war, the series captures an atmosphere of inner devastation and resilience. Each image, except for Witness and Sincere Selfportrait, was taken in an abandoned building near the artist’s home spaces stripped bare, echoing the starkness of his inner world.

The photographs were printed on thin, newsprint-like office paper, discovered by chance. This fragile material adds a tactile dimension to the work its imperfections, folds, and texture turning each print into an object of touch as much as sight. Through this choice, Canyon reinforces his belief that photography is not only a visual medium but a physical and emotional encounter.