Susan Dobson

Susan Dobson (born September 19, 1965) is a Canadian artist based in Guelph, Ontario.

She is best known for her photographs and installations, many focusing on the theme of urban landscape and suburban culture.

According to the artist: "If you have driven through the streets of most suburbs, you have seen the row houses of equivalent design, decoration, and setback. Such standardization seems depressing to you, but the important thing is that it seems even more depressing to the suburbanite. As a consequence, an enormous amount of effort has been spent by suburbanites to make their homes different from those on either side and across the street. The more identical things are, the more he seeks some distinctive touch to symbolize and validate any particular tract house as his house."

Dobson's work has been exhibited worldwide, in countries including: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, China, Germany, Spain, and Mexico.

Susan Dobson was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, on September 19, 1965.

She spent her early years in Canada, eventually moving to Germany due to her father's career change from a land developer to an Opera singer.

Although growing up in Germany, she spent summers in Nova Scotia visiting her grandfather.

Dobson developed interest in photography when she took her first image at age of 9 or 10 with her mother's Brownie camera.

It was a photograph of a poinsettia plant on a windowsill which, due to lighting, appeared as a silhouette in a final print.

When Dobson was a teenager, she sought career advice from a nature photographer Freeman Patterson, who provided a perspective on the challenges with pursuing arts, but also practical advice on how to approach it.

Dobson pursued a Bachelor of Applied Arts at Ryerson University in Toronto, graduating in 1988, followed by an early career as an editorial photographer in multiple engagements, including Toronto Life and Saturday Night.

Dobson received an M.F.A from the University of Guelph in 1997, completed under the mentorship of Suzy Lake.

She has been an associate professor at the University of Guelph from 2004–present (Tenure 2006; Promotion to Associate Professor 2009).

The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, an affiliate of the National Gallery of Canada

Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

Portland Art Museum

BMO Financial Group

Accenture

Art Gallery of Windsor

Frommer Lawrence, Haug, New York

Oakville Galleries

State Street Trust Company

Private Collections

2005 Open House, National Center for the Arts (Cenart,) Mexico City, Mexico.

2006 Open House, Elora Centre for the Arts, Elora, Ontario, Canada.

2008 Temporary Architectures, Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

In conjunction with the photography festival Photopolis, and with Nocturne: Art at Night.

2008 Rememory, The Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

2009 Retail, The Department, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A CONTACT photography festival feature exhibition.

She was a contributing artist to the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and her work was presented on billboards in Vancouver as part of the exhibition Endlessly Traversed Landscapes.

2010 Dislocation, The Department, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2010 Endlessly Traversed Landscapes, a site specific billboard installation in conjunction with the Vancouver

2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Organized by VANOC and curated by Natalie Doonan

2012 Transmission, Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

11/12 By Design, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

2014 Viewfinder, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario, Canada.

2015 Viewfinder, Orleans Campus Gallery, Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

2016 Come Up to My Room, the Gladstone Hotel, a collaboration with Simone Ferkul, curated by Jana Macalik & Nuria Montblanch.