Carol Jerrems – Portraits

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

Carol Jerrems – Portraits I Carol Jerrems

National Portrait Gallery I 30 November 2024 - 2 March 2025

Carol Jerrems: Portraits is a major exhibition of images by one of Australia’s most influential photographers. Jerrems’ intimate portraits of friends, lovers and artistic peers have shaped Australian visual culture. Against the backdrop of social change in the 1970s, her practice charted the women’s movement, documented First Nations activism, put a spotlight on youth subcultures and explored the music and arts scenes of the era.

What were you doing in the ‘70s? Some visitors to this exhibition will not have been born then. Others spent those years “wasting their youth”. My wife and I were raising two young children. Some are well past the age that Jerrems was when she was documenting the ‘70s.

Her career spanned only twelve years before a tragic death at the age of 30. Jerrems captured the world around her with curiosity and courage. She photographed her world - a voracious observer yet also intentional in her approach to narrative and composition. Her images play with tension and dramatic impact. They are candid but at times purposefully theatrical, tough and yet vulnerable, revealing both melancholy and joy.

The exhibition showcases 144 photographs Is that a little overwhelming. And why are they all displayed before wide strips of pink paint? Regardless, this show should be seen. It traverses the journey from Jerrems’ lesser-known early work to her iconic Vale Street 1975 and coincides with the 50th anniversary of her landmark publication A book about Australian women. Featuring portraits of cultural figures like Anne Summers, Bobbi Sykes, Evonne Goolagong and Linda Jackson the exhibition examines how the author’s work defined a decade and continues to shape our views of photography today.

But there’s no need to write about her best-known works here. Instead, I want to mention some less-known images. Firstly, Marilyn Monroe, the only portrait of a non-Australian. Is it really a portrait or rather part of a non-descript building on which hangs a framed Richard Avedon print of Monroe?

Carol Jerrems - Marilyn Monroe 1972

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Then there is Empty Corridor, which is not quite that. There are small silhouettes of unknown people at the corridor’s far end in this most interesting image.

Carol Jerrems - Empty corridor 1979

National Library of Australia

Manuscript collection (MS 10718)

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Much more significant is the inclusion of contact sheets providing valuable insights into the artist’s ways of working. Some show empty frames where images have been cut from the negative strips. Jerrems was very interested in the sequential nature of photography and often created contact sheets using strips of images taken on different film rolls, then exhibited those sheets as artworks alongside individual image prints.

Carol Jerrems - Contact sheet (Linda Piper) 1974

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Jerrems made her name during a time of significant social change. She explored activism by First Nations people, the women's movement, youth subcultures, other artists and musicians. Many of the latter were household names and those who were then young adult Australians will be reminded of times in their lives. There are images of loved actresses Enid Lorimer and Kate Fitzpatrick, of a pioneer of modernist painting in Australia, Grace Cossington Smith, of Aboriginal people including Rosslyn Johnson and David Gulpilil (with a bucket), of youths who became known as Sharpies, and of young friends simply enjoying each other’s company when school was out.

Carol Jerrems - Enid Lorimer and Kate Fitzpatrick 1974

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems - Rosslyn Johnson 1973

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems - Edols seeing Gulpilil with a bucket 1974

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems - Sharpie couple, Melbourne 1976

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems 

Carol Jerrems - School's out 1975

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

One image stands out for a number of reasons. Mirror with a memory: Motel room is the only colour image in the exhibition. Along with a shot of Grace Cossington-Smith, it is an example of the artist’s effective use of mirrors. And it is a revealing self-portrait of her and her lifestyle.

Carol Jerrems - Mirror with a memory: Motel room 1977
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981
© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

Carol Jerrems - Grace Cossington Smith, OBE 1974

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981

© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

The exhibition's last section is a collection of works that Jerrems photographed in hospital whilst battling the rare liver disease which led to her premature death.

This review is also available on the author's blog here. It has also been published on pp 8-11 of the February 2025 issue of The Printer here.

An abbreviated version has been published online by Canberra City News here.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022

Photography Review | Brian Rope

NPPP 2022 | Various artists

National Portrait Gallery | 25 June – 9 October 2022

As I noted when reviewing the 2021 NPPP here, group exhibitions can be awkward to review because of the diversity of imagery subject matter and quality. In a major show such as this though, there is unlikely to be poor quality work. Furthermore, with a focus on portraiture the diversity is diminished. That’s not to suggest there is a sameness as there are many approaches to portraiture on display here. As in previous years, the diversity of the quality artwork delivers a powerful visual exhibition.

The winning work Silent Strength 2021, by well-known Indigenous photo artist Wayne Quilliam, is a fine portrait, beautifully portraying Culture through the rich colours in the ochres and feathers of his indigenous subject, and also his sense of pride. Quilliam is a lovely modest man and very proud of his prizewinning artist daughter who was with him at the media preview I attended. And he’s giving the $20,000 worth of gear he won to Indigenous communities and organising for them to learn to use it.

 

Silent Strength - Wayne Quilliam

As always, in such shows, I look for works by locals and other people whom I know personally, as well as images by artists whom I follow. Canberrans in the show include Cat Leedon, with a powerful, perhaps confronting, self-portrait titled Breast Cancer, aged 37. It clearly shows the anguish she was feeling after her second breast surgery.

 

Breast cancer, age 37 - Cat Leedon

Fiona Bowring has a delightful Family Portrait, incorporating another shot of the same family hanging behind them. This again is a story which, no doubt, includes pain – it relates to palliative care and to love of family.

 

Family portrait - Fiona Bowring

Greg Stoodley’s contribution is another self-portrait Greg & Orbit that I had seen previously on his website. The image was taken during lockdown and features a cat looking at his apparently bored face and supine body.

Greg & Orbit - Greg Stoodley

And then there is Lauren Sutton’s work Lauren and Poppy. Yes, another self-portrait during lockdown. All work cancelled, the artist took this and other selfies to document the time spent with her four-month-old daughter.

 

Lauren and Poppy - Lauren Sutton

There are various other images made during restrictions, including Andrew Rovenko’s The Shuttle, a delightful shot of four-year-old astronaut Mia wearing her homemade space suit and helmet.

 

The Shuttle - Andrew Rovenko

There are also other good portraits of Indigenous people, such as Cordy in the Clouds by Adam Haddrick.

 

Cordy in the Clouds - Adam Haddrick

There are people from other cultures, an Olympian, well-known people such as Barry Jones, a survivor of a lifetime of abuse and mistreatment, a 6’ 9” tall man, neighbours, lifelong friends, a dancer, music journalist Bob Gordon, and a young woman in transitional housing after a period of homelessness.

One of the represented photographers whose work I always appreciate is Michael Bowers. His work Stella is of a grandmother whose grandson was last seen where she is seated on the banks of the Gwydir River.

 

Stella - Michael Bowers

As in previous years, there are numerous works in this diverse exhibition that we all need to study and explore, such as Matthew Newton’s Indigo, featuring an activist, dressed as an endangered wedge-tailed eagle, heading into the Tarkine forests in Tasmania, where they spent a bitter winter to halt development of roading to access a planned tailings dam – yet to be built.

 

Indigo - Matthew Newton

 

This is far more than pretty pictures, far more than high quality portraits. There are so many stories, so many varied aspects of our Australia and its peoples, so many identified issues for us to think about – all revealed through the talented story-telling photographers using their insights and artistic skills to depict their subjects.

We who view the works are privileged to gain access into the personal lives and emotions of the people portrayed.

This review was first published on page 23 of The Canberra Times of 11 July 2022 and online here. It is also available on the author's blog here.

CITY COMMISSIONS - PORTRAITS

 Photography | Brian Rope

CITY COMMISSIONS - PORTRAITS | SAMMY HAWKER

Tuggeranong Town Centre (on windows of Lakeview House & under the Soward Way Bridge) | Until 4 July 2022

Installation shot - Under Soward Way bridge (supplied)

Sammy Hawker is a visual artist working predominantly on Ngunawal Country. She works predominantly with analogue photography techniques and often works closely with Traditional Custodians, scientists and ecologists.

In 2021 Hawker had two highly successful solo shows as part of a PhotoAccess darkroom residency. She is currently an artist-in-residence with the CORRIDOR project and is also preparing for another solo show before year end.

Over the last six months Hawker worked closely with nine young people from Headspace Tuggeranong exploring ways they could co-create photographic portraits. This was part of a City Commissions project delivered by Contour 556, one of seven artsACT initiatives in the Creative Recovery and Resilience Program.

Headspace is a safe space that welcomes and supports young people aged 12–25, their families, friends and carers, helping them to find the right services. Learning the Headspace motto “clear is kind”, Hawker realised her project was also about finding clarity as a form of self-compassion - shining light on what for many was a particularly dark and confusing time.

Hawker challenges the notion that a photograph constitutes the moment that a shutter is released. She explores ways of making, rather than taking, images. She wanted the project to be empowering - with no right or wrong and where the final photographs celebrated identity and experience beyond just the way her subjects looked in the frame. It was an opportunity to realise we always have some choice whether we repress difficult experiences.

The portraits of the young people were captured on a large format film camera. Commonly, in photographic practice, touch and marks on negatives are to be avoided. But Hawker invited her subjects to handle, manipulate, scratch or even bury negatives in order to introduce something of themselves. The young folk wrangled puppies, dived into rivers, got dressed up, sprinkled bushfire ash on negatives and processed film in the Headspace carpark.

Each participant was invited to use the project to reflect on their experiences of difficult times. Their statements relating to the images reveal resilience and hope.

Chanelle reflected about living in the moment. The negative of her portrait, showing her immersed in the Murrumbidgee River, was processed with water from that river, ocean water and permanent marker.

Chanelle © Sammy Hawker

Sophie spoke of learning to embrace everything in life. Her portrait’s negative was processed with bushfire ash and the word Embrace scratched into it. The ash creates a frame that embraces her.

Sanjeta really likes her photo with jellyfish manipulations as metaphors for how she now goes with the flow of her life journey. Her expression conveys a “so be it” attitude. The negative was processed with Murrumbidgee water, rainwater, seaweed and chemical stains.

Sanjeta © Sammy Hawker

Ray wanted to keep connected and bring some joy into the lives of others. The portrait’s beaming smile conveys joy. The idea of processing the negative with Whiz Pop Bang bubble mixture and wattle pollen adds to the joy.

Ray's Statement

Jazzy is photographed with her much loved dog Milo. So, of course, the processing of the negative utilised Milo’s pawprints.

Jazzy © Sammy Hawker



Devante © Sammy Hawker

Installation shot - Under Soward Way bridge (supplied)

When I reviewed her Acts of Co-Creation show (for which she received a Canberra Critics Circle Award) in this publication, I wrote of Hawker’s then newly formed relationship with Ngunawal custodian Tyronne Bell who helped her to learn about sites she was working with. For this project, Hawker arranged for Bell to escort her subjects walking Ngunawal Country, providing a healing experience for them.

I strongly recommended readers to visit City Commissions - Portraits - and reflect on your own difficult times.

An edited version of this review was published in The Canberra Times of 28/6/22 on the Capital Life page, and the full version online here. It is also on the author's blog here.

WE BLEED THE SAME

 Photography, Documentary & Installations | Brian Rope

WE BLEED THE SAME | TIM BAUER & LIZ DEEP-JONES

Research School of Social Sciences, ANU | Until September/October 2022

Whilst reporting on conflicts, acclaimed journalist Liz Deep-Jones, was deeply disturbed that they unfolded in the name of religion or racism.  Inspired by a community-led, grassroots initiative ‘Racism Not Welcome’, Deep-Jones joined forces with portrait photographer, Tim Bauer, to present this exhibition ‘We Bleed The Same’.

Deep-Jones grew up in a Lebanese, Arabic-speaking household trying to figure out how she belonged in Australian society where she experienced bigotry. She says the exhibition is “about you, me, humanity!” Bauer is the child of a refugee European father and an Australian mother who taught him to love and respect all human beings.

Thirty-nine women and men from varied backgrounds, religion and race feature in Bauer’s images. And in an accompanying documentary produced by Deep-Jones, they share personal and emotional stories about their diverse cultures and experiences with dangerous and demoralising racism. Like them, we should all be seeking to defeat racism.

As he is a pre-eminent Australian portrait photographer, it is no surprise that Bauer’s diverse images here are simply superb. The people he has wonderfully portrayed include former Race Commissioner Tim Soutphommassane, First Nations Elder Leetona Dungay (whose son David died in custody) and refugee Marcella Kaspar.

Tim Soutphommasane © Tim Bauer

Leetona Dungay © Tim Bauer

Marcella Kaspar © Tim Bauer

Lovemore N'dou, one of the other incredible people featured, had a successful early career in boxing but, due to South Africa’s apartheid policies, was not allowed to compete internationally. He migrated to Australia and continued his boxing career before becoming a lawyer.

 

Lovemore Ndou © Tim Bauer

There is Australian-born Uyghur woman Subhi Bora, indigenous Torres Strait Islander author and union official Thomas Mayor, and Filipino migrant Brenda Gaddi. Also South Sudanese refugee Deng Adut, proud Australian Muslim woman Maryam El-Kiki, and human rights advocate and refugee activist Thanush Selvarasa.

 

Maryam El-Kiki © Tim Bauer

Thanush Selvarasa © Tim Bauer

Accompanying each wonderful Bauer portrait are the subjects’ deeply personal stories in words assembled by Deep-Jones - explaining who they are, what their personal racism experiences have been, and how they are involved with seeking to combat bigotry. Those words take the already powerful images even further - they are profoundly moving. It is highly probable that studying the images and reading the words will make most viewers quite emotional.

From Mayor, we learn “Indigenous people experience racism in this country every day. Racism makes me feel less than human, insignificant, like I’m not even there but we need to stand up and be proud of who we are. We are on our country and that can’t be ignored.”

The exhibition also features various installations - including the interactive Kizuna (Japanese  - meaning ties or bonds) in which family photographs submitted by the local community are being hung from a red Hills Hoist using red strings. The threads of photos represent the connectedness between Australians whilst reflecting our diversity. Deep-Jones hopes this exhibition that she has produced will convey that message and spark visitors into ongoing conversations about racism in Australia.

Another installation comprises vials of fake red blood, each labelled with a name of a portrait subject and, so, symbolising them and shouting, ‘We Bleed The Same.’

There are opportunities for visitors to share their personal experiences of, and views about, racism by writing in red alongside images of a “blood-soaked arm.” And a Cedar Tree of Lebanon installation, inspired by Deep-Jones’ family roots, seeks to touch our souls and ignite our hearts to inspire positive action for humanity.

Deep-Jones expects the exhibition will continue until at least September 2022. It is in the foyer and also the first floor of the RSSS building at the ANU. I urge everyone who can to see this important presentation.

For a great interview with Deep-Jones check here.

This review was published by the Canberra Times on 28/05/22. It is also available on the author's blog here.

Mixed Signals

 

Visual Art | Brian Rope

Mixed Signals | Jess Cochrane

aMBUSH Gallery | Until 20 March 2022

 

Jess Cochrane is an Australian contemporary visual artist. Canberra is her hometown. She has been based in London for a few years now but has recently returned to Canberra for a brief time. She created new large-scale multidisciplinary pieces specifically for this solo exhibition, Mixed Signals. A well-known Canberra dairy product even features in one of the pieces.

 

Canberra Milk © Jess Cochrane (2022)

Cochrane’s work questions the relationship between society, consumerism and pop culture. Her focus is on feminine beauty, illustrated through the application of paint over photographic images. She paints highly gestural and expressive marks over the surface of glossy photographic portraits. This approach seeks to reflect our relationship to imagery and, particularly, to our own self-image.

The artist reflects upon insecurity and perfectionism in the modern age. Connecting the history of art, design and advertising, she plays on the idea of pop culture and its roots that are planted in both displaying and disguising parts of ourselves.

It is a body of work that explores themes around desire and semiotics through digital photography, which Cochrane styles in an editorial manner then embellishes with rough, gestural mark-making using acrylic paint to provide the element of subversion she has become known for. These are portraits featuring her friends, acquaintances and people she admires. By including recognisable elements and iconography that reference popular culture and identity, Cochrane reveals the reflective creative spirit that pervades her work.

Two artworks titled Carbs, and Guilt and Pleasure, feature the model cradling and holding substantial quantities of sweet pastries. Another with the title Gluten Free had me thinking “something for everyone” until I realised it includes even more of the same baker’s confectionery. Whether the goodies were gluten free or not, I’d be sure they were not sugar free.

Guilt And Pleasure © Jess Cochrane (2021-2022)

Gluten Free © Jess Cochrane (2021-2022)

 

Another work has cherries on a model’s ear, in her hands, against a breast obscuring the nipple, in the crotch area and on the fabric where she is seated. The boots she is wearing are painted over in red. The model has a dreamy, wistful look. What was she thinking whilst her photographic portrait was being taken?

Boots feature in various images. Indeed one work is titled Gucci Boots. They appear to be from that company’s latest collection, designed by Alessandro Michele, the Italian fashion designer who is its creative director.

Fresh figs feature in more than one work, opened to reveal the pink/red flesh inside – some held by the model, others scattered around her feet. And there are shucked oysters. Again, some being held by - and others scattered around - the model.

In one work, I’m the Pearl, a dark-skinned beauty wearing a beautiful necklace holds an opened oyster “containing” a pearl. A heart shape has been painted around the oyster. The model’s eyes, her full lips – indeed everything about her – shout to us that she is a pearl.

This use of cherries, figs and oysters is all very sensual. And the seductiveness is added to by Cochrane’s use of her paints – for example, by drawing attention to a breast and nipple by painting an enlarged outline of the same around them.

Of course, sensuality is also the condition of being pleasing or fulfilling to the senses. And that is very much what the artist is seeking to do – and achieving – with all her works. They dazzle with their sensuality, their colours.

 

Open © Jess Cochrane (2021-2022)

 

This exhibition is a powerful interrogation of our aspirational and perfection-seeking modern-day culture. It’s a collection of artworks unafraid to probe the historical conditioning of society, especially in the context of femininity, and ask the question ‘What do we perceive as beautiful and what is grotesque?’

This review was published in The Canberra Times on 5/3/22 here. It is also available on the author's  blog here.