'VIEWS FROM DOWN UNDER' by Alison Holland - September 2002 issue
Black and White Magazine for Collectors of Fine Photography USA

Geographic distance from Australia to Northern Hemisphere centers historically contributed in obscuring a wealth of talented fine art photographers living 'down under'. As ever-changing technologies shrink the globe, these advances enable more Australian photographers to reach international markets through 'traditional' exhibitions, increased book publishing and online galleries.

Australian's however were never disadvantaged in their experimentation and use of early to modern photographic innovations. The pace of technical and stylistic development of photography always reflected that of Europe and the US. Influences were gleaned from the world's most noted photographers, however the distance also contributes to a unique perspective.

Given the country's climatic and geographic diversity coupled with a unique sociological and multi-cultural outlook, Australian photographers found stimulus in a country that had white settlement beginnings in 1770, and indigenous roots reflecting back 60,000 years to one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

In photography's earliest days, pioneer John William Lindt (1845-1926) received international recognition for his considerable photographic skills plus his self-promotional and entrepreneurial spirit earning him acceptance at 'intercolonial' and international exhibitions in the late 1880s.

Enduring arduous travels that by today's standards seem insurmountable, Lindt 'discovered' photography shortly after moving to Australia from his German homeland in 1862. Continued overseas trips from Melbourne exposed him to new advances in photography, and by 1880 Lindt pioneered the use of Charles Bennett's newly developed dry plate method in Australia.

Lindt's most noted series, the 'Album of Australian Aboriginals' c.1873, were probably the most widely distributed images of Aboriginal subjects in the second half of the nineteenth century. Then using cumbersome wet-plate negatives, his attempts to capture Aboriginal people on their land were mostly unsuccessful. To create his studio tableaux photographs, Lindt made artificial settings with painted backgrounds of wild mountains, and captured images considered to be "the first successful attempt at representing the native blacks truthfully as well as artistically." writes biographer Shar Jones.

To construct these portraits from an anthropological perspective, "Lindt took great care in portraying his subjects from childhood, maturity and old age, and clearly tried to show Aborigines as they lived before European contact, however subtle signs of the cultural change that resulted from the confrontation with white civilization are present."

Portrayed with an immediacy and realism, the albumen prints capture compelling expressions projecting defiance and sorrow, detailed skin textures and intricate scarification. "Like many other important Australian photographers of the 19th Century, Lindt's name has been obscure for many years and only a few of his photographs have been reproduced, usually for their value as historical evidence," noted Jones.

Acclaimed by fellow photographers as "the outstanding photographer of the 1880s", Lindt was appointed a Councilor of the British Royal Geographic Society in 1893, yet recognition came again in recent years, by J Paul Getty Museum Curator of photography, Weston Naef, who selected Lindt's Aboriginal portraits (credited only to 'Australian School of Photography') as one of his personal ten favorite photographers.

In today's international fine art photography market, there are few known Australians. Noted photographers Bill Henson, Tracey Moffit, Lewis Morley and David Moore have received wide acclaim, however as the world's barriers diminish, a new breed is emerging.

Adelaide based photographer Andrew Dunbar has amassed 17 national and international exhibitions in the last 12 months. In a collaborative endeavor with painter Anthony Chiappin, Andrew had his first US exhibition at the G Ray Hawkins Gallery alongside such luminaries as Annie Leibovitz, Man Ray, Diane Arbus and Paul Outerbridge Jr. A full exhibition for the collaborative titled; 'New Body of Art' followed in 1998.

As a solo artist Andrew's series 'Body Piercing' has received the most attention following an exhibition in 2000 at the Los Angeles David Aden Gallery and an upcoming 2001 exhibition at the Gomez Gallery in Baltimore Maryland. His black and white photographs take piercing from a sub-culture to popular culture, exposing custom made body jewelry designed in his home town of Adelaide, in a beautiful and often cheeky manner. One reviewer wrote that 'the images are so beautiful that it takes a couple of seconds to remember to wince".

Andrew believes that "piercing can be adornment or mutilation. I wanted my images to embrace piercing as a creative form of self-expression - to seduce rather than to shock. To take it away from a connection with subcultures, freaks and fetishes."

Andrew's career began in photojournalism prior to studying in the USA and Australia in the mid-eighties. He then moved into the realm of commercial, advertising and fine art photography where he has worked extensively for the past 15 years.

Since 1996 Andrew has been the recipient of over 40 awards and commendations including the prestigious Ilford Trophy. His Body Piercing book won three major design awards including Australian Institute of Professional Photography 'Editorial Photograph of the Year', and Winner of 1998 Australian Publishers Design Awards for 'Best Designed Book' and 'Best Designed Book Cover'.

"I wanted the pictures to be beautiful in a photographic sense. I stayed away from using people with multiple piercings or with tattoos as well as piercings, not because I had a problem with that, but because I wanted the images to look clean and uncomplicated."

Andrew's photographs are more concerned with body piercing than brutal expressions of rebellion. He says, "the images are to capture what body piercing feels like rather than just what it looks like."

Sydney-born, Los Angeles based photographer Stephanie Flack is not as concerned about protecting your emotions with her images.

In 1999 Stephanie began documenting the complex lives of an Aboriginal community living on Palm Island located off Australia's coast of Northern Queensland. Photographing contemporary Australian Aborigines can pose as a sensitive task that touches on assorted social and historical complexities.

"The community was borne when white settlers in their quest to expand their land holdings, booted the Aborigines off their land and shipped them off to Palm Island. Over the years, authorities also removed "troublemakers" from their tribes on the mainland and relocated them to the island," says Stephanie.

The Palm Island Aborigines suffer many of the social problems that are inherent in indigenous communities throughout the world: a high rate of unemployment, drug & alcohol abuse and domestic violence. Stephanie sought these people as a challenge, to look beyond these issues and certainly not to sensationalize, exploit or betray Aborigines but to portray them with dignity and respect.

Images from Palm Island include an intense portrait of an Aboriginal Elder's face, a battered couple who stand hugging and smiling outside their dilapidated house, and glistening playful boys jumping off a jetty highlighting their unaffected nature.

For Stephanie photography is a passion that encompasses two key dimensions, a medium for expression and a matter of record to be experienced by others. She is drawn to cultures such as India, Tibet, Ghana and remote areas of Australia in order to capture both the unique and the universal.

"I want to create images that arouse awareness and evoke a response. I want to capture the ephemeral."

Paul Smith, another Los Angeles based photographer found his influences in Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean Loup Sieff, and Paul Strand. Stylistically he draws from the classics then adds the inspiration of dark sensuous toning. Poetic subjects involve an outsider's view of Italy.

Paul captures secret earthly vibrations to which we are unaware. The landscape moves, fixing a subject in time. The 1999 series 'Movement' appears as though he was the stills photographer on an old black & white film set.

His cinematic eye capturing a scene of intimacy between two people walking endlessly in circles knitted by their umbrellas unaware of the storm or the photographer. The image paints them simultaneously moving and standing still.

His emotive impressionistic images portray the feeling of a location - a long tunnel eerily swallows its victims, a bicyclist floats on water, the Statue of David and man meet in heaven. The series is a progression of man moving from the ocean, to run, walk and eventually meet his maker.

"As a youth I would draw pictures non-stop. This ultimately led to me studying graphic design and illustration, yet it was the old black and white movies that influenced my desire to travel and capture the cinematic illusion," says Paul.

Paul has constantly traveled and photographed over the last 12 years. It is telling to know that when he is at home in LA, his work is to shoot portraits for Hollywood talent.

Recently it was Paul's infrared images of The Getty Center that first caught the eye of the Center's curators. As plans fall into place, Paul is soon to benefit from their influence, and future trips to Europe are arranged to add to his repertoire. Australian's are amongst the worlds most traveled population. Sheer distance is often a factor to ensure they do it extensively.

In 1999 Sydney based photographer Michael Corridore visited many regions throughout Cuba including Havana Vieja, or 'Old Cuba', capturing the timeless quality that he wanted to convey.

"My photographs could have been taken 40 years ago. They really look as though they're from another time." Michael's collections of meticulously executed black and white images are unobtrusive and sincere observations of a people that make Cuba unique.

"I was conscious of my role as a tourist, so to speak, and therefore did not want to be intrusive in the way I dealt with the people that I photographed. I was happy to play the role of observer."

Michael produced an articulate and vivid record of life in this superficially static area that is, in fact, rapidly changing. Cuba is alive and hungry for the Dream, yet light-years away. His images show large old 50s American cars crawling up palm-fringed streets as men and women smoke cigars, sit back and watch their world roll by. The character of Cuba is the people. Happy, stoic and resilient. Laid back and looking forward. Positive spirit reigns as Cuba rests on the cusp of its circumstances improving.

"It's a country that is not being dictated to, just going along at its own pace. Although Cuba has managed to flourish in many ways, on the surface it appears that it is stuck in time, and yet the opposite is true."

Passage of time is also the subject of Deborah Mooney's photography. Nude portraits of her 94-year-old Grandmother photographed in her bedroom under natural light, highlight the beauty of human flesh in all ages. Deborah's series is titled 'Passage'.

Often likened to the work of Joel Peter Witkin, these images however are not freakish. The grandmother is a subject treated with adoration, love and respect. Glimpsing the women's wedding ring, we realize that her life has already been full. A capacity that continued when she agreed to reveal to us who she is at the close of her life.

Previously represented in the US by G Ray Hawkins Gallery, the Fototeka gallery in Los Angeles recently showed the entire installation in February 2001.

'Passage' exhibits as an installation of 24 photographs. Sitting atop the installation are two large protruding wings rising up over six 24 x 24 inch nude portraits of Deborah's Grandmother as she poses seated with no more than a simple feather as a prop. 16 supporting images of feathers, leaves, bird skulls and a butterfly set off the subject's frail aging form.

Defined sculptural shapes are revealed where the flesh drips off the body as it moves away from its skeleton. Deborah highlights the beauty of the aging skin by sepia toning her black and white prints after she had applied numerous scratch marks to the negative. Signifying cyclical life, the repeated, almost frenzied circular scratchings cocoon the Grandmother, acting as both a protective tomb and a frame that transports the woman back to the warmth of the womb.

"The installation is an altarpiece paying homage to my Grandmother. It bears witness to the passage of time. The organic processes, mortality of the body, and the transcendence of the soul. There is an element of ritual in the placement of the smaller fetish-like images surrounding her. The bird (feathers and wings) being symbolic of the release of the spirit from bondage to the earth. The butterfly is a symbol of the soul and of attraction to light. Blue in the center piece represents spirituality."