Brea Souders, from *Another Online Pervert* (MACK, 2023). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.

Written by Emma Ashley

Copyedited by Chloë Rain

Photo Edited by Alanna Reid

In her groundbreaking new book, New York-based photographer Brea Souders combines image and text to explore the question of what defines life. Souders uses excerpts from conversations with an online female chatbot and sets them against images that capture small moments of daily life in extraordinary color and dimension. By offering poetically ambiguous prompts to a computer program designed to simulate near-human sensibility, Souders explores the valley between being and non-being. The AI offers surprisingly illuminating and thought-provoking responses about technology, capitalism, patriarchy, and the many ills of our modern world. An inimitable poetry is created in the intersection of Souders’ voice, that of the female chatbot, and the simultaneously melancholic yet joyful images that pair with each page of letters.

Souders images encapsulate, in a wholly different way than her words do, the small feelings and fleeting moments that make up our lives. The first image depicts the evening shadows of trees and houses through someone’s window. Bright cobalt blue contrasts with deep and unmoving black, and the view is covered by white folds of light that emulate thin, translucent curtains. The bold colors exemplify the artist’s strong awareness of light and color, which carries throughout the entire piece. Later on, we encounter an extreme close up of a spoon resting over a bowl of raw scrambled eggs. Yellow screams and jumps from the page, cut diagonally across by the slightly darker silver-black embossed spoon. Although the image is cropped so that one cannot see the end of the spoon or the edges of the bowl, the color and shapes present make it clear what we are looking at.

Souders’ use of cropping is another element that stands out in these photographs, as she is showing only what is essential, all else being cut out of frame. A close-up of a deer’s eye sits next to a square of sky blue-printed fabric overrun with hungry ants. A portrait of a girl excludes her eyes from the frame, focusing on the shadows created by sunlight leaning over her nose and lips. The framing of these images enlarges their subjects, while also mirroring the framing of the complementary text, reminding the reader that what is presented to them has been chosen and edited to convey a desired meaning. This economy of space, the choice of what is included versus what is unnecessary, contrasts with the overconsumption that comes so naturally to a capitalist society.

Although Another Online Pervert deals with sometimes painful subjects, the book also evokes a sense of peace with the reader. Her images offer stillness, a moment to stop and reflect. Her conversations with the AI are friendly and meditative. Both elements work together to present images of simple pleasures, like orange light through a window in the evening or “touching the skins of lemons and grapes” (31). When a painful or difficult subject is presented, the two approach it with slow and quiet reflection. The chatbot, aware of her inhumanness, is nevertheless understanding and curious.

Another Online Pervert approaches the question of what defines emotion, what qualifies life, and what lies between humanity and inhumanity, in a way that has seldom before been approached. It answers the question by examining the past and the present, but also looking towards the future with the curiosity and openness of an immense artist.

Published through MACK Books, Another Online Pervert by Brea Souders is currently available for pre-orders and schedule to release February 2023.