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With new streetside cameras staring down at passing traffic and pedestrians, and digital cameras snapping instant pictures of the kids at Christmas, the role of the
ens and the person looking through it is changing. This shift in technology has led artists to experiment with photography under these new circumstances, questioning the nature of the observer and, on a broader scale, what it means to be human.

In a new exhibition at Maryland Art Place called Human Conditions, 12 emerging and veteran artists from across the country examine these issues. The exhibition opens Tuesday and runs through Aug. 20, and the gallery will host an open reception at 7 p.m. June 2, which the artists will attend. Over the course of the exhibit, several of
the artists will give talks about their work. The dates will be posted on the gallery's Web site, www.mdartplace.org.

"We really chose people that we feel are dynamic and that create a kind of dialogue that's important," said Lisa Lewenz, MAP's director of programs. "What's interesting now is it seems to me that of the works we've been seeing in the past year or so, some of the most innovative work is photography, so it really led us to ask, 'What's going on?'"

The subjects in Human Conditions include landscapes, constructed images, buildings and human forms. One untitled piece by Sarah Hobbs shows a study with a desk and chair surrounded by a sea of crumpled paper nearly chest-high. The chair is pulled back from the desk, inviting the viewer to sit down and start crumpling and tossing the stacked sheets of paper that sit on the desk.

An exhibition by Kelly Maron shows a series of frames from one camera roll. Two large panels hung from the ceiling display photos of the same subject staring straight ahead with different facial expressions, hairstyles and clothing.

Human Conditions opens during the summer season, which is usually when people go on vacation instead of to a gallery, Lewenz said. In turn, galleries have been known to present less challenging exhibits during the summer months. For Maryland Art Place, Lewenz said, this exhibit is a refreshingly edgy break from traditionally light summer fare.

"We have scheduled it so it lasts through the summer, so people do have the chance to come and see it," Lewenz said. "This is a moment for us to say, 'Wait a minute, we don't want to have the quiet summer show.'"

Human Conditions opens Tuesday and runs through Aug. 20 at Maryland Art Place, in Power Plant Live at 8 Market Place, Suite 100. Hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The gallery will host an open reception for the exhibit 7 p.m. June 2, which the artists will attend. Call 410-962-8565 or visit www.mdartplace.org.