Art, a form of self-expression, can create or reflect reality. Canadian artist Jeff Wall (born 1946) expresses himself by recreating paintings as photographic panoramas and by reflecting a natural but staged reality. His work is "clearly the work of a man with a deft visual sense and an interestingly complicated mind," noted Jed Perl in the New Republic.

Jeff Wall was born in 1946 in Canada. Growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wall pursued his artistic talent with support from his family. Yet, his decision to attend the University of British Columbia and not an art school surprised his relatives. This would be only one decision that seemed out of character for an artist. Wall earned a master's degree in art and continued his doctoral education at the Courtauld Institute in London. However, "feeling that he had acquired enough learning to serve his creative purposes," commented Lee Robbins in ARTnews...