An exhibition showcasing the work of some of Australia’s leading documentary photographers has opened at The Art Gallery of NSW.
The Art Gallery of NSW is hosting a new, free exhibition, Australian Vernacular Photography, which candidly documents everyday Australian life as seen through the lenses of some of its most influential photographers.
In the Australian Photography Annual of 1947, photographer and director of the Art Gallery of NSW Hal Missingham wrote: "In a country supposedly occupied by people indulging in a vigorous outdoor life, where are the [photographic] records of beach and sport… where are the photographs of the four millions of people who live and work in our cities? What are they like – what do they do – what do they wear, and think?"
Some of the answers to Missingham’s questions can be found in Australian Vernacular Photography, which explores the Australian photo-documentary tradition over the last 50 years. Some of the photographers featured in the exhibitition include Trent Parke, Glen Sloggett, Anne Zahalka, Gerrit Fokkema, David Moore, Robert McFarlane and Sue Ford.
Australian Vernacular Photography is showing at The Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Rd, Sydney, from 8 Feb to 18 May 2014. Admission is free.
Blacktown Man, 1983. Photo by Gerrit Fokkema. (Gelatin silver photograph, 30.6 x 40.6 cm.)
Sue Pike, 1963. Photo by Sue Ford. (Gelatin silver photograph, 34.2 x 34.2cm.)
The girls #2, Cronulla Beach, 2007. From the series 'Scenes from the Shire'. Photo by Anne Zahalka.
