In 2002, John Armstrong and Paris artist Paul Collins created a collaborative bookwork titled Jim →, co-published by Coach House Books and the Art Gallery of Sudbury. A parallel exhibition of photographs, also titled Jim →, was presented first in 2002 at the Robert Birch Gallery (now birch libralato), Toronto. The exhibition then traveled to the Art Gallery of Sudbury (2002); and the Artothèque de Caen, France (2003). Additionally, Jim → was included int The Ironic Turn, a survey of contemporary Canadian art that originated at the Kunsthalle Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany, and traveled to Faux Mouvement, Metz, France (2003); Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, New Brunswick (2004); and the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, Toronto (2004). Most recently, Jim → was exhibited at the Maison de la culture Côtes-des-Neiges as part of Image & Imagination, the international photography festival Le Mois de la photo à Montréal 2005.

Armstrong and Collins's next collaborative project, Lakeshore (a series of painted photographs), has been shown at Galerie l’Hôtel, Caen (2003); Truck, Calgary (2004); and at Platform Centre for Photography and Media Arts, Winnipeg (2005). In 2006, Lakeshore was on view at La galerie ESCA, Nîmes, France (2006); and in two concurrent exhibitons at Oakville Galleries, Oakville, and Sir Wilfred Grenfell College Art Gallery, Corner Brook. Lakeshore is ongoing, and currently consists of over 100 works.