Stephen Spiller works and lives in Long Island City, NY, USA. He is self-educated and began photographing in 1985. In 2003 he began experimenting with digital manipulation to better define and explain his political and social positions which are the foundation of most of his work. Examples of subjects that interest him include: identity, racial prejudice, religion, economic disparity, universal healthcare, denying women control over their lives, affordable, quality education, gun violence, etc. His guiding philosophy: Everyone carries within their hearts and minds the tension between mumpsimus and sumpsimus—between the stubborn hold on old beliefs and the yearning for clearer understanding. The mumpsimus in us clings to what feels safe and familiar, even when reason or evidence suggests otherwise; it represents habit, comfort, and identity woven into outdated thinking. The sumpsimus, by contrast, is the impulse to correct, refine, and grow—to replace error with truth, even when doing so unsettles the self. These opposing forces coexist in every person, shaping how we change and how we resist change. Together, they form the inner dialogue of human progress: one voice defending the past, the other reaching toward the future. Spiller's art attempts to illustrate that inner dialogue by making visible the struggle between persistence and transformation, giving shape to the conflict between what we refuse to abandon and what we long to revise—holding contradiction without resolving it. His art becomes an argument between the comfort of the known and the risk of new understanding, allowing viewers to sense, rather than merely think about, the fragile balance between conviction and evolution. Specifically he has made artworks dealing with beauty, fashion, prostitution, aging, gender, rape, misogyny, politics, etc.

Spiller has exhibited in over one hundred U.S. and international galleries and museums, e.g. New York, NY (Soho Photo Gallery); Los Angeles, CA (Tag Gallery, Los Angeles Center For Digital Art); Miami Beach, FL (Spectrum Miami Art Show); Buenos Aires, Argentina (The Palais de Glace); Malaga, Spain (Municipal Museum); Thessaloniki, Greece (National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation); Venice, Italy (Exhibition Hall of the Venue of Laneri); Berlin, Germany (The Palazzo Italia); Beijing, China (Czech China Contemporary Museum); Barcelona, Spain (FotoNostrum Gallery); Tokyo, Japan (The National Art Center of Tokyo), and more.

Spiller has also been published in several issues of Musee Magazine. He is a founding member of FotoNostrum, the largest photography gallery in Barcelona, Spain.

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