Photography art Gallery Friday Round Up - 24 July, 2015|Photography Art Definition

This week on Friday Round Up - Cuba, exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, and call for entries - KAUNAS PHOTO festival portfolio reviews and GUATE PHOTO 15 exhibitions. And a great article by Magnum Photo's Larry Towell.

Photo Essay:

Greg Kahn - Cuba

American documentary fine art photographer Greg Kahn gives us a view of today’s Cuba where the gulf between the have’s and have nots widens as the country is pushed into the ‘modern’ world leaving many behind.

(C) All images Greg Kahn

Exhibitions: Melbourne

Impressions of Melbourne

Charles Kerry 1884

This exhibition is in response to the photographs by Eugène Atget (1857–1927) which feature in NGA’s touring exhibition, Impressions of Paris where Atget is the only photographer. His works appear with those of Degas, Daumier and Lautrec.

Impressions of Melbourne canvases early images of the city taken in the late 1800s by the likes of Charles Kerry through to more contemporary artists. Works are drawn from MGA’s collection. One of my favourite photographers, Mark Strizic, features along with other notable Australian photographers including Max Dupain.

Mark Strizic Collins Street 1967

Mark Strizic Princes Bridge 1956

Both shows are on until 20 September

Monash Gallery of Art

860 Ferntree Gully Road

Wheelers Hill

Exhibitions: Sydney

Extracts

Mclean Stephenson

(C) All images Mclean Stephenson

This exhibition features an eclectic mix of work from Sydney photographer Mclean Stephenson. Shot over six years on a variety of film formats, his intention with this series is to show the imperfection of the medium as well as the freedom that comes with being open to possibilities and taking a chance.

28 July to 16 August

Blackeye Gallery

3/138 Darlinghurst Road

Darlinghurst

2020 (I)

Merilyn Fairskye

At a time when there is renewed debate over nuclear energy, this series by Sydney visual artist and filmmaker Merilyn Fairskye takes a future view of the impact of nuclear energy on humans and the environment. Shot around the Dungeness Power Station B, Kent UK and Degelen Mountain, Soviet underground nuclear test site, The Polygon, Kazakhstan, Fairskye’s images convey a bleak outlook to a potentially real scenario.

(C) All images Merilyn Fairskye

Until 29 August

Stills Gallery

36 Gosbell Street

Paddington

Call for Entries:

KAUNAS PHOTO 2015 Portfolio Reviews

Registration Open

Established in 2004 KAUNAS PHOTO festival is held annually in Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. This year portfolio reviews will be held during the festival on 4 September. There are no geographic boundaries to entry and photographers from around the world are invited to register. KAUNAS PHOTO festival portfolio reviews also feature awards including a cash prize, and artistic residencies. It’s a great opportunity to have your work viewed by curators from across Europe. Visit the site for more information.

GUATE PHOTO 15

Exhibition Open Call

This is the third outing for this festival, which is held in Guatemala and Antigua Guatemala. GUATE PHOTO is calling for submissions from photographers to participate in the main exhibition program during this year’s festival, which opens on 12 November and runs till the end of the month. A total of 15 artists and 30 photo books will be chosen. Apply here. Program details are yet to be announced, but the festival confirms its lead exhibition is by Martin Parr.

Article:

Larry Towell's advise to young photojournalists

In an article on Vice.com Magnum Photo's Larry Towell shares his thoughts. It's definitely worth a read.

USA. NYC. 9/11/2001. A dazed man picks up a paper that was blown out of the

towers after the attack of the World Trade Center, and begins to read it.

Photo by Larry Towell / Magnum Photos.

EL SALVADOR. San Salvador. 1991. A daughter comforts her mother who

passed out while grieving at the grave of her son who was killed by government

death squads. Some 70,000 persons died in the 12-year civil war.

Photo by Larry Towell / Magnum Photos.

Photography art Gallery Friday Round Up - 7 August, 2015|Photography Art Definition

This week on Friday Round Up - Robin Hammond's Where Love is Illegal, Instagram fake dupes world's media, and exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart.

Photo Essay:

Robin Hammond - Where Love is Illegal

Above: Simon, 22. He was arrested while having sex with his boyfriend in Uganda. They were beaten, dragged naked through the village, and thrown in jail with no medical treatment. They later escaped from a hospital when a doctor, who was Simon’s ex-boyfriend, took pity on them. Simon fled to the Ugandan capital of Kampala. He has not seen his boyfriend since. (C) Robin Hammond/PANOS for Witness Change

Robin Hammond is one of the most erudite, and hardest working, photojournalists I've ever had the pleasure to interview. He's also a really lovely person whose deep concern for others has led him on his life's pursuit to give voice to those who are marginalised and persecuted. Last time I spoke to Robin it was about his book Condemned: Mental Health in African Countries in Crisis, which won the FotoEvidence Book Award (2013).

His current series Where Love is Illegal is a Witness Change project that exposes the prejudices and horrific abuse that LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex) people suffer in countries such as Russia, Lebanon and Uganda. Robin travelled to seven countries in all to help these people tell their stories.

To borrow from Ernest Hemingway, Robin's work is brave and honest and true. When I read the story of the young man pictured above I felt compelled to share it. This is taken from a larger story which you can read in full on National Geographic's Proof including an interview with Robin and extended narratives on each of those pictured.

Robin says, "Bigotry thrives where those discriminated against are silenced. The objective is to have the people in this project seen and their voices heard, and to raise money for grassroots LGBT organizations working in countries where being LGBT is illegal or subject to massive discrimination. So we ask everyone to share these stories and to donate to these organizations however they can."

To be loved and to love are fundamental to our humanity. As the Dalai Lama says, we should cherish all sentient beings without qualification.

Lesbian couple “O,” 27 (right), and “D,” 23 (left). They were attacked on the way home from a concert after kissing at their subway stop. “The real fear I experienced was not for myself, it was for the one I love,” said O. St. Petersburg, Russia. November 2014.

Jessie, 24, is a transgender Palestinian woman born in a refugee camp in Lebanon. She was born male, but knew she was female from a young age. Her uncle repeatedly raped her, and her father and brother have attacked and tried to kill her multiple times. Unable to complete her training as a nurse due to discrimination, she has resorted to doing sex work.

Malawi. In 2009 Tiwonge Chimbalanga and her husband Steven were arrested and charged with buggery and indecent practices between males. They were sentenced to 14 years in prison. The case caused an international outcry and both were later pardoned on the condition that they never see each other again. Fearing for her safety, Tiwonge fled to South Africa. All photographs by Robin Hammond/PANOS for Witness Change

Opinion:

Instagram Fake Migrant Story

Last week the Huffington Post led the media's race to publish the amazing story of the Senegalese migrant who was documenting his own journey on Instagram…only the story turned out to be a publicity stunt by a Spanish photography festival. You can read Oliver Laurent’s exposé of the fake story on Time Lightbox here.

This is not the first time that the international media has been duped by digital images, and it shows a complete lack of fact-checking. Editing and correcting after a story has gone to “print” is one of the aspects of digital journalism that corroborates the perception that journalism in the digital age has devolved. This story went viral, was shared amongst other digital media outlets and countless thousands of individuals who posted the story on their social networks. As a long-standing journalist it drives me crazy that the so-called gatekeepers keep turning their backs on the very principles that journalism was founded upon. Pathetic just doesn’t cut it.

As for using fake photographs to tell a story that is highly political and the cause of debate in many countries is, in my opinion, insensitive and devalues the genuine work being done by photojournalists who often take extraordinary risks to bring the truth to light. This is especially concerning in a year when the credibility of photojournalism is under scrutiny once again after the fallout from the World Press Photo awards and the staggering number of entries that featured manipulated images.

Exhibitions: Melbourne

Robert Ashton - Thin Air

Melbourne photographer Robert Ashton explores the mountainous plateau of Ladakh situated India's far north in his new series of photographic work -Thin Air.

“At an altitude of 3500 metres above the sea on the borders of Pakistan, India, China and Tibet the air is thin and clear and the barren landscape is slowly absorbing the mementos of war,” says Ashton. "Since the petition of India it has become a very sensitive region politically for both India and Pakistan and the landscape bears the marks of war. I was drawn to the barren beauty and the exquisite light of the landscape and the way it absorbed the scattered mementos of war.”

(C) All images Robert Ashton

Until 29 August

CF (Colour Factory) Gallery

409-429 Gore Street

Fitzroy

Future Reference - Group Show

Nova Paul This Is Not Dying 2010

single channel digital video transferred from 16mm film

20 mins 0 secs, dimensions variable courtesy the artist

Curated by Pippa Milne this group show draws on photography’s propensity to trigger, hold and play with memory and features works by Sophie Calle (FR), Rodney Glick and David Solomon (AUS), Siri Hayes (AUS), Nova Paul (NZ), Julian Aubrey Smith (AUS) and Justine Varga (AUS).

Until 6 September

Centre for Contemporary Photography

404 George Street

Fitzroy

Sydney:

Julia Margaret Cameron - Victoria & Albert Museum

Julia Margaret Cameron Mrs Herbert Duckworth 1872.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©

This exhibition, drawn from the extensive collection of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum features over 100 photographs that trace Julia Margaret Cameron’s early ambition and mastery of the medium. A series of letters is also on display, along with select photographs sourced from Australian institutions.

Julia Margaret Cameron Whisper of the Muse 1865

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©

Victoria and Albert Museum, London ©

Until 25 October

Art Gallery of NSW

Art Gallery Road

The Domain, Sydney

Sydney and Hobart:

Vedat Acikalin - Gallipoli Then & Now: Bonds Forged by War

Adil Sahin (l) and Len Hall (r) meet as friends in 1990 on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the 1915 battlefield they once fought on as enemies. Adil was 17yrs old when he enlisted and Len only 16. They are here together 75 years on.

In this exhibition that commemorates the Australian and Turkish soldiers who served and sacrificed their lives at Gallipoli in 1915, Turkish-Australian photojournalist Vedat Acikalin captures the bonds and friendships forged by those pitted against each other in battle so long ago. Many of these “enemies” went on to have lasting relationships, which have carried over to their families also.

(C) All photos Vedat Acikalin

Gallipoli Then & Now: Bonds Forged by War

Hobart - Allport Library & Museum of Fine Arts Until 22 August

Sydney - Customs House Library, Circular Quay Until 30 September

Photography art Gallery Friday Round Up - 9 October, 2015|Photography Art Definition

This week on Friday Round Up an incredibly moving photo essay from Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman leads the post, plus exhibitions in Melbourne, country Victoria and Sydney. Lots of diversity in this week's selection of images from exhibitions by Andrew Chapman, Helga Leunig, Luke Hardy, Sally McInerney, Keiko Goto, Berylouise Mitchell and Gerard O’Conner. Take a look.

Photo Essay:

Magnus Wennman – Where the Children Sleep

Award-winning Swedish photojournalist Magnus Wennman has created a series of portraits of Syrian refugee children sleeping – it is one of the most moving photo essays I’ve seen. You can read each of the children’s stories here and find out how to lend support.

Exhibitions:

Melbourne & Surrounds

Victoriana Pleasure Gardens

Photographer Gerard O’Connor and stylist Marc Wasiak create a fusion of nineteenth-century high fashion, art and culture in this glamourous collection of works that depict the hedonistic and extravagant 19th Century Victorian garden party.

Until 18 December

NationalTrust

Tasma Terrace

6 Parliament Place

East Melbourne

Helga Leunig - Mother Country

This exhibition features photographs taken over a 20 year period by Helga Leunig who was at the time living on a farm in north-east Victoria. This selection is chosen from her book, “Mother Country: Reflections of Australian Rural Life” which includes an essay by Cate Kennedy who says: “From the well-loved, well-used tea cups which have survived generations to the old fenderless car body slowly disappearing into the vegetation, Helga’s images are permeated with understanding. There is not just an overriding feeling of serene melancholy, but something steadfastly respectful in the ordinariness of her subject matter”. It's a beautiful collection and worth the drive to Benalla, a couple of hours out of Melbourne.

Until 22 November

Benalla Art Gallery

Botanical Gardens

Bridge Street

Benalla

Andrew Chapman - Political Vision and other work

Multi-award winning Australian photojournalist Andrew Chapman presents a series of images from his latest book, Political Vision, plus a few old favourites from his Woolshed Series in this exhibition in Geelong. Here's a snapshot of some of the gems from Political Vision - there'll be a full interview and book review published here sometime in the not too distant future. Andrew will be giving a talk about the work this Saturday.

Until 24 October

Artist talk this Saturday 4pm

Metropolis Gallery

64 Ryrie Street

Geelong

Keiko Goto - Sakhalin

In this exhibition Japanese photographer Keiko Goto showcases her exquisite black and white hand printed silver gelatin photographs of the Russian Island of Sakhalin, which has been under Russian rule since the end of WWII. This island has been heavily mined for decades - coal and now gas - and has also been developed as an industrial site.

Over four years Keiko travelled to Sakhalin, located 42km north of Hokkaido, to document the seasonal changes of the island. In the process she discovered the communities that survive the island’s harsh climate to live in harmony with nature. Here time seems to have stood still, the residents living an existence far simpler, yet perhaps more connected, than those on the mainland.

Until 31 October

CF Gallery

409-429 Gore Street

Fitzroy

Sydney Exhibitions:

Sally McInerney - Nauru Diary: Impressions of an Island

This exhibition features images taken by Sydney photographer Sally McInerney over two visits to Nauru Island in the past year. Here she presents a selection of images and personal diary entries combined with a small collection of reproduced historic photos from the archives of the State Libraries of NSW and Queensland. Sally's work delivers a different perspective of the tiny Pacific Island that has been in the spotlight due to Australia's heinous refugee policy. The exhibition closes this weekend.

Until 11 October

Janet Clayton Gallery

406 Oxford Street

Paddington

Luke Hardy - PATINA

In this new body of work Sydney photo media artist Luke Hardy continues to explore his passion for the Japanese aesthetic, with a series of intimate portraits that hover between reality and the dreamscape. In these images Luke says he is trying to capture the moment of waking, when the dream lingers fleetingly, a ghostlike memory that fades as the conscious mind takes over. The result -beautiful, sensual portraits.

14-25 October

Janet Clayton Gallery

406 Oxford Street

Paddington

Berylouise Mitchell - The Birdsville Cup

Most Australians are familiar with the Birdsville Cup which is oft referred to as the ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’. This two day racing carnival held annually in the remote outback town of Birdsville in Queensland - a mere 3200 kilometres west of Brisbane, literally in the middle of nowhere near the intersection of the Queensland, NSW and Northern Territory borders - has long held fascination for Australians, especially those city slickers who romanticise the outback and its stories. Birdsville has one of the harshest climates on the planet. Its permanent population of around 120 swells to nearly 7000 when the Cup is on.

As a student, photographer Berylouise Mitchell documented every aspect of the race. That was 25 years ago. To mark this anniversary she has published a book through crowdfunding, donating 100 copies to the Birdsville community to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which is an essential service for those living remotely. The book 'The Birdsville Cup' will be released at the exhibition of the same name, which is on at Janet Clayton Gallery 14-25 October. These black and white photographs are an important historical record and the story they tell is worth knowing.

World Photobook Day October 14

This year MAUD Creative Gallery in Brisbane will host an eclectic exhibition featuring photographs of photographers and their favourite photography books. I've nominated mine, a mad collection of images Strange Friends by Slovenian photographer Bojan Brecelj.

What's yours?

To find out more about Maud Gallery's activities visit the Gallery here.