Volver (The Return)

Exhibition Review: Photography | Brian Rope

Volver (The Return) | Judith Martinez Estrada

Photo Access | 15 March 2024 – 27 April 2024

Two exhibitions running concurrently at Photo Access explore identity and memory, in quite different ways. Volver (The Return) is one of them. The artist Judith Martinez Estrada has focussed on migration as well. Starting in 2017, she comprehensively explored her paternal family’s apartment in Madrid, which they had rented for more than 100 years. Unearthing photos, documents and other material relating to her family gave her a significant volume of mixed media to which she has applied a variety of techniques.

Three babies had been born at the flat. Two people had died there. A century of family life had been lived there with all its highs and lows. The family’s history and the memories of all who had lived there was powerful and very much overlapped. As the relationship between the apartment and the artist’s grandparents, aunt and parents changed, so the memories altered - as they tend to for many, if not most, of us. As we get older we sometimes forget things long remembered. Sometimes we recall things from our early years which we have not thought of for a long time, if ever. Personally, my earliest knowledge of family history comes not from actual memories of the events but from hearing a story told over and over. Sometimes we are unsure whether an apparent memory is a real one.

So, what is the artist revealing to us here of this significant treasure of her family’s memories? Charu Maithani’s catalogue essay provides considerable background. Her documentation of the apartment became the catalyst in Martinez Estrada’s practice that brings together personal and political histories alongside archival and digital artistic techniques. Working with layers she creates a temporal and spatial juxtaposition of memories and objects. Each layer in the works creates spaces for remembrances to be added, including ones we do not know of yet. Layering allows multiple entry points and numerous recollections and half-rememberings to coexist.

In series of works entitled Family Biographies, photos and a variety of documents are held together using various means, such as rubber bands and paper clips. Has this been done to hide some of the past, the memories, the history? What else is there in the closed book, on the notebook pages not visible to us, in the photos hidden behind the top ones? Or are the assembled objects being presented to us as a symbol, telling us that the apartment which binds family members together will continue to draw back those still living?

Family-Biographies-Biografias-Familiares-XII-2018 - installation image provided by Photo Access

Another series Unknown Portraits uses strips to cover faces, thereby further hiding the already unknown identity of the people photographed at an unknown time in the past.

Unknown-Portraits-Retratos-Desconocidos-II-2018 - installation image provided by Photo Access

Two prints exhibited side by side share the title When God Left. The left side one spoke clearly to me of a god. A hand gesturing towards us is familiar to all who grew up attending Christian schools or churches. Here though we also see a nail hole telling us the artwork partially included is of Christ after his crucifixion – when he had left his earthly life. A video work tells us that Estrada’s grandfather played a role in the relocation and protection of artwork during the Spanish Civil War. Also displayed is a reproduction of an official commendation for that work. His granddaughter is now tracing and recreating the journeys he made transporting artworks from Madrid to Valencia. Did this painting of Christ belong to Grandfather Ramon?

When-God-Left-I-2018 - installation image provided by Photo Access

Old images of grandparent’s Ramon and Emilia are on display, overlaid on new images of things in the apartment. 

Ramon-II-2019 - installation image provided by Photo Access

There is much more to see, explore and consider in this fine exhibition. If you are able to do so, visit the gallery whilst this and its companion exhibition (also about identity and memory) are showing. If you can’t get there, at least take a look at some of her other works here or on her Instagram account. 

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

A Lens on the Lake, & Kambah

Photography | Brian Rope

A Lens on the Lake | Andrea Bryant

Kambah | Louise Curham

Tuggeranong Arts Centre | 20 Jan – 24 Mar 2023

These two separate exhibitions are both outcomes of explorations by their respective artists.

A Lens on the Lake is a series of abstracted moments Andrea Bryant has gathered whilst exploring life around Lake Tuggeranong. Shot predominantly with an infrared converted digital camera, the surreal scenes are part of a broader project focusing on the health of Canberra waterways and their direct environments.

Kambah, by Louise Curham, is also part of a larger project that is ongoing.

She is interested in the history of Kambah and is making an online digital Kambah People’s Map. As she develops the map, Curham will include images and stories shared with her during public programs at the arts centre whilst the exhibitions are on display. Bryant is also conducting a workshop. Details of those events can be found at https://www.tuggeranongarts.com/whats-on/.

Bryant completed a Diploma in Photography and Photographic Imaging in 2019 at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Her practice focuses on the use of abstraction. Working primarily with black and white photography, she juxtaposes disregarded things with the natural world – thus reflecting on our penchant for destroying the environment.

Here Bryant shows us thirty-six framed fine art prints. Whilst most are black and white, a small number are vibrantly coloured. The images were developed over several years from meditative walks at Lake Tuggeranong, prompted by copious amounts of rubbish discarded in the area.

Amongst the subjects for Bryant’s camera are, inevitably, a shopping trolley and graffiti. But there is also the floating wetland’s structure, people relaxing, fishing gear, filaments, the skatepark, and a black swan. There are even images of Einstein and his “intelligent eye”.

 

Relaxing 1 © Andrea Bryant

Relaxing 2 © Andrea Bryant

Filaments © Andrea Bryant

Mimis © Andrea Bryant

Each walk taken uncovered new debris, different structures and diverse wildlife that Bryant has transformed through artistic use of infrared to shift the commonplace in a way that stirs curiosity. Largely stripped of context, the artist invites us to reconsider our relationship to what have become mysterious or puzzling forms within the landscape.

Floating Wetlands, 2021 © Andrea Bryant

Schism © Andrea Bryant

Tension between unpleasant dumped objects and the beauty found in their forms is intriguing. Bryant’s reframing draws us to reconsider how we move through our environment and the actions we take to pollute or restore it.

This artist is to be congratulated on this, her first solo show, and on the messages she has successfully conveyed.

Curham uses art, and archivist expertise, to explore how we can look after things we can’t digitise. She invites people to think about the wisdom accompanying things they want to keep and how it can be passed on. She focuses on old media and the lessons that can be learned from it.

Kambah, a suburb of Canberra first settled in 1974, was not designed according to the 'neighbourhood' philosophy guiding suburban design and is the largest in Canberra. It took its name from the once prosperous Kambah sheep and cattle farm. The property was sub-divided; Village Creek waterway went underground. Seeking to build community, Curham invites residents, alumni and visitors to select the contents of an archive about Kambah.

The exhibition displays a digital map built from the community’s answers to the question ‘what do you know about Kambah that you think is important to share with others?’ Alongside the map is a series of images of Kambah made using pinhole and cyanotype photography. Both processes have created very literal but diverse portraits of Kambah.

Kambah people's map digital map - © Louise Curham

Urambi20 - © Louise Curham

Pinhole06 - © Louise Curham

The subjects include the historic Urambi Woolshed, the IGA, a bike, casuarinas, dusk (towards the Brindabellas) and cleared woodlands. It all makes for an intriguing show that gallery visitors should spend time with, especially Kambah residents.

Woolshed - © Louise Curham

IGA from Boddington - © Louise Curham

Clearing at Kambah - © Louise Curham

This review was first published online on 9.2.23 by The Canberra Times here and then in the printed paper on 13.2.23. It is also available on the author's blog here.

Mervyn Bishop, the exhibition

 

Photography | Brian Rope

Mervyn Bishop | Mervyn Bishop, the exhibition

National Film and Sound Archives | Until 1 August 2021

This exhibition is drawn from the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) collection and Mervyn Bishop’s private archive; and enriched by sound and moving images from the NFSA. It features iconic photographs that derive from his career as a photojournalist, alongside personal images of family and friends and intimate portraits of members of the Aboriginal community.

H. Thomas, C. Dixon, K. Smith ACT from the Mervyn Bishop archive 1976 35mm colour slide 2.5 x 3.5 cm National Art Archive|Art Gallery of New South Wales © Mervyn Bishop Photo: AGNSW

There are also images of Bishop by other photographers, cameras from his personal collection, sound and moving image about him, and other videos providing context. So, it is not simply an exhibition of the artist’s imagery. It is an exhibition about the artist, one of Australia's most prolific and influential photographers, who has significantly influenced our collective understanding of Australia’s history.

Bishop himself has said: ‘Photography has been my life, my passion for 60 years: the art and technique, the stories I’ve witnessed and captured. I’m glad to be able to share my life’s work with the public’.

Born and raised in Brewarrina, Bishop was encouraged by his mother to take his first photograph. After witnessing the ‘magic’ of the developing process, he became passionate about photography. In 1963 he successfully applied for a four-year cadetship at The Sydney Morning Herald and became Australia’s first Aboriginal press photographer. In 1971 he won the News Photographer of the Year Award with his front-page photograph, Life and Death Dash, 1971.

There is no need for me to assess the quality of Bishop’s images; others have recognised his skills many times over many years. I will simply say that his body of work is amongst the most significant by any Australian photographer.

Inevitably displayed is the iconic image from 1975 when the (then) Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, poured a handful of earth back into the hand of Vincent Lingiari, Gurindji elder and traditional landowner. This image became an icon of the land rights movement and Australian photography.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hands of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari, Northern Territory 1975, printed 1999 type R3 photograph 30.5 x 30.5 cm image; 33.9 x 33.9 cm sheet Art Gallery of New South Wales Hallmark Cards Australian Photography Collection Fund 1991 © Mervyn Bishop/ Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Photo: AGNSW

But there is so much more. A wonderful shot of womenfolk at Bowraville includes Aunty Elaine Kelly wearing a cloth nappy around her face to ease toothache pain. Women attending a home management course at Yuendumu are portrayed sensitively in a fine moody image. Another of a woman balancing precariously on a wooden plank, holding a pot of water over a submerged cord supplying electricity to neighbours is a moving portrayal of living conditions for Aboriginal people in 1988.

There are important documentary images of well-known and important people, including Lois O’Donoghue and Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Other featured people include Roslyn Watson, one of the first Aboriginal ballerinas, and June Barker, an Aboriginal educator and story keeper.

Lois O’Donoghue CBA, AM, and Oodgeroo Noonuccal 1974, printed 2008 gelatin silver photograph 30 x 30.4 cm image; 40.4 x 50.6 cm sheet Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased under the terms of the Florence Turner Blake Bequest 2008 © Mervyn Bishop Photo: AGNSW

Roslyn Watson 1973, printed 2008 gelatin silver photograph 40 x 30 cm sheet Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased under the terms of the Florence Turner Blake Bequest 2008 © Mervyn Bishop Photo: AGNSW

And there are other more simple or gentle portrayals, such as Bob with his tiny catch at Shoalhaven Heads. An early work from 1966 portrays two of the photographer’s cousins when he visited Gundawera, a property near Brewarrina, where his grandfather, father and uncle once worked. It tenderly portrays a special and fun moment on a boat. It is a precious memory for Bishop, just as our old family photos are precious for each of us.

Cousins, Ralph and Jim, Brewarrina 1966, printed 2008 gelatin silver photograph 30 x 40 cm sheet Art Gallery of New South Wales Purchased under the terms of the Florence Turner Blake Bequest 2008 © Mervyn Bishop Photo: AGNSW

We are shown an excellent film about Bishop, directed by Warwick Thornton. And a home movie dating from c1957-8 of Bishop with fellow altar boys and Brothers at Brewarrina’s Christchurch, Church of England.

And when you have explored and taken in all of that, you can sit down and watch a curated slideshow of images from Bishop’s personal archive of over 8000 photos, taken during his 60 years of taking them. Like most photographers of his generation, he liked to host ‘slide nights’ for family, friends and neighbours. They were most fortunate people.

This review was first published by the Canberra Times here. It is also published on the author's own blog here.