In an attempt to elicit questions regarding the digital vs the physical, the documentary vs the conceptual, and the hybridization of mediums, Higher Pictures will present an exhibition curated exclusively by the influential artblog www.iheartphotograph.com.

The blog was founded in December 2006 and has been updated almost everyday since. Based in New York City and curated by Laurel Ptak, iheartphotograph grew out of a want to explore the edges of photography and to find work that challenged the existing “offline” conventions of the medium.

www.iheartphotograph.com has become known for showing work that is visually and conceptually challenging, daring, and innovative. The majority of the photographers presented on the site are young and unknown and hale from all parts of the globe. Many are questioning the medium itself in a digital age, and in turn redefining how we conceive of photography in a world where so much of our experience is now mediated by a computer screen. By making their work readily available online, these artists—as well as iheartphograph.com—have embraced a contemporary moment where artwork is increasingly circulated and experienced via the internet.

The show features work by eight artists: Stefan Burger, Sherri Caudell Brennan, Zach Gage, Ulrich Görlich, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, Katja Mater, Laurel Ptak, and Roy Stanfield. All have previously been exhibited on the blog. The transition of their work from its online presentation to the traditional gallery space sparks numerous questions. Should artblogs be seen as a reaction to, a statement against, or something altogether separate from the artworld that exists in physical space? Is the digital interface taking over the physical in art? If artblogs are privy to a logic of the internet, where transparency, off-the-cuffness, and democratization are prized, can they co-exist with an established artworld that currently exhibits nearly opposite ideals?