Photography Exhibition Review | Brian Rope
Concept to Exhibition I James Bolto, Kate Leddick, Fernanda Pedroso, Albert Soesastro, James Whitehead
PhotoAccess
Gallery I 28 November 2024 – 21 December 2024
This exhibition is the outcome of the 2024 Concept to Exhibition workshop series conducted by Photo Access. After nine months of mentorship the participants have created new bodies of work showcasing their unique photographic styles.
James Bolto’s series of artworks explores wildlife – in particular the resilience of wildlife in the context of our expanding urban areas. Creatures have to adapt to live with us – or relocate to other habitats. The artist tells us that, in order to co-exist with us, wildlife species each have to find ways of living alongside us if they are to survive. His images provide information about various creatures which invite us to think about our co-existence with various species. This series effectively poses the question “to what extent should their challenges matter to us.”
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| James Bolto - Black Mountain Colony, 2024 |
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| James Bolto, 2024 (Installation Image) |
Kate Leddick’s series The Messy Journey of Motherhood, 2024 reflects on various aspects of family life, including love, parenthood, separation and chaos. The images have come from diving into her archives. The resultant series is, for her, a personal one about memories of what she considers to be a messy motherhood journey. The exhibition catalogue provides further details of how her feelings emerged as she undertook her exploration of her archives.
In another series Silent Currents, 2024 Fernanda Pedroso has explored “the quiet sadness” of Tokyo – a city of silent currents, spaces between and spaces within: a city of crowds, of pulsing streets, and “where individuality thrives, yet human connection feels elusive.” Each of the images contributes to a most interesting overall snapshot of the busy city and reveals elements of the city that this artist has identified. This series is an excellent example of how photographers can explore specific urban areas and paint descriptions for those fortunate to see their imagery.
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| Fernanda Pedroso - from the series Silent Currents, 2024 |
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| Fernanda Pedroso - from the series Silent Currents, 2024 |
Albert Soesastro has long been passionate about both photography and skateboarding. It makes sense therefore that he has merged those two passions and created photographs about skateboarding. These images immediately attracted my attention as I entered the gallery. They are vibrantly colourful and, together with their titles, reveal much about skateboarding to those of us who don’t have the knowledge.
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| Albert Soeastro - Argenis Urbina, Backside five-o-grind, Hume, 2023 |
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| Albert Soesastro - Annie Walker, Nose slide series, Canberra City, 2022 |
James Whitehead’s series reality : dreaming, circa 1987 – 2024 is about wondering what “the other side” was like, which side he was on, images recalling memories, everyday light, and new life taking shape. There are two distinct styles of images alternating on the walls of the gallery. Small colour prints arranged in groups are, presumably, memories. His other exhibits immediately say “artwork”.
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| JAMES WHITEHEAD - from the series reality : dreaming, circa 1987 – 2024 |
JAMES WHITEHEAD - from the series reality : dreaming, circa 1987 – 2024
Overall, the exhibition is well worth a visit. It is a credit to the five participants in the workshop, and to their mentoring by Alex Robinson. Once again, this annual program has delivered a worthwhile outcome.
This review is also available on the author's blog here.
