The Demotivational Series is a direct response to the recent inundation of motivational paraphernalia in the workplace. This motivational material, in the form of framed posters, T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc., often marries a hackneyed, but beautiful image (the breed of banal photograph that overpopulates the stock photo market) with a phrase, or phrases, designed to inspire employees to work harder, faster and longer in the absence of previously available incentives (such as job security, stability, a future with the company, etc.). Borrowing on certain accepted notions, (themselves often expressed as platitudes, such as "the photograph never lies" and "truth is beauty"), the motivational texts generate their own brand of currency based on the alleged truth and power of the photos.

Using my own corny images (taken during my formative years in photography: from 1967-1977) linked with ironically contemptuous pseudo-platitudes, The Demotivational Series reflects on the malleability of the 'pretty' photo, which attempts to lend plausibility to essentially any idea by virtue of its complete lack of context.

Since his first exhibit in 1980, Chuck Samuels has been exhibiting and publishing his photographs internationally. Samuels' photographs are part of the collections of la Musée Européene de la Photographie in Paris, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa and la Musée Secret in Montréal as well as many private collections in North America and Europe.