"A too-expected image will never seem right, even if it is."

-Robert Bresson

Artist Statement

Drawing on a background in film and scenography, Mike treats the urban environment as a constructed stage, isolating moments where light, surface, and form converge into carefully composed scenes.

Following a diagnosis of birdshot uveitis — which fragments vision into particulate fields — his work has shifted and expanded into abstraction, foregrounding bold geometric forms, compressed perspectives, textures, and resonant planes of colour.

These images function less as records than as perceptual translations, exploring how we see and where observation gives way to creative construction.

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Mike Longley’s street photography was selected for the Second Annual Juried Show of Visual Arts at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, and earned an Honourable Mention in the 2025 International Minimalist Photography Awards.

His street, portraiture, and collage work has been featured in exhibitions presented by PhotoED Magazine, the Leslie Grove Gallery, and John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, Ontario.

He has twice received Editor’s Choice recognition in international competitions through LensCulture.com, and was a selected finalist in SNAP for the ACTs 2024 charity auction.

Mike’s work is held in private collections and hotels throughout Canada and the United States. He studied portraiture at OCAD University and Digital Media and Theatre Arts at George Brown College, and lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

@yyzmikey