BEN JANSSEN

Ben Janssen is a Dutch-Canadian photo-based artist based in Toronto, Canada where he is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography at OCAD University. Ben has previously studied Architecture at Fanshawe College and holds an Advanced Diploma in Architectural Technology.

My work explores photography as a way to engage with memory, time, and identity. I use abstract techniques, long exposure, and archival images to investigate how photographs shape what we remember—and how they can also distort or reimagine the past.

Although photography is often seen as a way to document reality, I’m more interested in its ability to create a sense of ambiguity. Through motion blur, layering, and abstraction, I explore how photographs can represent emotional or mental states rather than literal moments. These techniques help me question the idea that photographs are always accurate or objective records.

Personal and family archives play an important role in my process. I revisit and rework these materials to reflect on inherited memories and how identity is formed over time. By combining older images with new work, I create a dialogue between past and present, and explore the gaps or overlaps between them.

Long exposure is another tool I use to stretch time within a single image. It allows me to capture change, movement, and the passage of time in ways that mirror how memories can feel—layered, incomplete, or fading.

Overall, my practice is about using photography not just to preserve the past, but to explore how we relate to it, how we reinterpret it, and how we might see it differently.

• 2025 - OCAD U Honorarium for INTAC 2025
• 2025 - Andre Beaulieu Bursary for Young Visual Artists
• 2024 - Stephen Bulger Gallery Scholarship
• 2017 - Award of Excellence - 3rd Annual Collaborative Urban Design Project presented by the Marshall S. Huzevka Foundation
• 2016 - The Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists Student Award