Karin Bubaš, born in 1976 in North Vancouver, is a photographer who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design and graduated in 1998. Since graduating, Bubaš has exhibited nationally and internationally, most notably in Montreal, Washington D.C., and Brussels. Exhibitions include About Time at The Canadian Embassy in Washington DC, Studies in Landscape and Wardrobe at The Monte Clark Galleries in Toronto and Vancouver, and The Power Of Reflection at The Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts in Montreal. Most recently her work has been exhibited in The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social at The Vancouver Art Gallery and Moodyville at The Presentation House Gallery.

Bubaš's pictures have taken as their subject matter the found installations of everyday life. She has photographed her grandparents' home in Florence and George, a crack hotel on the downtown eastside of Vancouver in Leon's Palace, and a Victorian era home in London, England in Ivy House, among others. Whether the pictures show packages of fancy party coats and furs heaped on a bedroom floor, or soiled clothes and empty methadone bottles, the photographs inform us in a way a simple portrait does not. Although the subject matter has shifted with her new work Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe, the use of light, colour, and texture remains consistent. Sometimes foreboding, sometimes sympathetic, the photographs suggest a haunted presence. At first glance the subjects of this new work may be considered a strong deviation from her previous photographs. Pictures of one's home and private life seem far removed from pictures of well-dressed women standing alone in picturesque landscapes. However both approaches play on photography's ability to tell a story through a single image or series of images. The story is never completely clear but the pieces are presented for the viewer to fill in the gaps. This open-ended storytelling relates to much current contemporary photography that gets its cues from myths, fables, and legends and also film and theatre.

Karin Bubaš's new photographic series Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe takes its inspiration from the renowned films of Alfred Hitchcock and Michelangelo Antonioni. Using the language of Hitchcock's cinematography and Antonioni's depiction of women (seemingly lost in expansive settings), Bubaš plays the role of director with her friends and has created a series of images reminiscent of film and painting. Dressed in carefully selected costumes and positioned in pre-planned locations in the Vancouver area, the pictures depict stylish and chic women in parks with their faces turned away. Some pictures have the subjects situated with their backs to the camera, some have a profile view with their heads turned so we cannot see their faces. The voyeuristic placement of the camera creates a crucial tension between the women, their attire, the spaces they inhabit, and what they are looking at.

Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe uses nostalgia for films of the 50's and 60's to explore the tension that exists between the female figure and the environments they inhabit. It also explores how actress's costumes are key to delivering storylines and creating visual impact in film and photography. The relationship between the landscape and the female figure is one that has been seen throughout art history, whether in film, painting or photography. It is an association that will forever be explored.

Karin Bubaš is represented by the Monte Clark Galleries in Vancouver and Toronto.