James McArdle has uploaded a brilliant piece on Helen Ennis’ thought provoking presentation at the Museum of Australian Photography’s launch of the book — The Basement — the photography from Prahran College. Click here.
Helen Ennis Unfixing
Category Archives: Equity
International Women’s Day 2025
IWD 2025 — searching for peace. An image by Daisy Wu.
In these troubles times, we need to be positive and seek peace and harmony.
Caption for the photograph: All quiet on the western front, 1955
Carol Eyerman
researching a photographer
I have uploaded to our web site a piece on Carol Eyerman, a woman photographer who may have been overlooked in our photo histories despite her significant body of work with LIFE and others. Click here.
Ruth Bernhard
On Our Collections
I have uploaded a piece about one of my most cherished photographs, Ruth Bernhard’s 1946 Dead Sparrow — click here
Imagining A Real Australia
Book Launch at MAPh
This afternoon (Saturday 7 Dec) I had the pleasure of launching at the Museum of Australian Photography Stephen Zagala’s beautiful photography book — Imaging A Real Australia — about Australian documentary photography 1950 — 1980.
Carol Jerrems
Updating our online information
We have updated the information on our website on Carol Jerrems. Loads of links.
Mary Meyer
Early 20th century Australian artist
Being in Melbourne has brought about a few pleasant surprises. Who would have thought that we would be researching early 20th century Australia women painters — who were not photographers.
Research at Monash University
Doing research for a colleague
We had a fun day today doing some research. We headed across Melbourne to Monash University Clayton Campus to view a document for a colleague. This is what we like doing now that we are in Melbourne — doing research favours for colleagues.
Elaine Campaner, The Lake 2017 Copy
On Our Collections
A much loved work by Elaine Campaner (1969–2020) that has just taken pride of place on our walls in our new home in Melbourne. More on this work — click here.
Oceania: From Melbourne to Papeete
Revisiting a 2019 entry to an exhibition catalogue
This piece was a difficult piece to write. The requirement was to survey 19th century photography across the Pacific in a few hundred words. Many hours were spent reducing the entry and making decisions on what to leave out — reluctantly! If I ever find the time I may revisit this and make it a much longer piece with all the extras inserted back in. Wishful thinking maybe? Here’s the original piece.
Other Lives
Republishing previous article
Have revisited a previous article looking at the aesthetic connections to other mediums and how image makers respond to their era. I may follow up with some thoughts on how this applies in contemporary practice — today. Click here for my 1990s piece.
Rod McNicol, The Roses 2024
On Our Collections
When we moved, we dispersed some of our collections and said to ourselves that we should not buy any more. Then we saw this wonderful new work by Rod McNicol.
A previous notice for this was posted on Facebook — but their algorithm removed it. We have a theory. Click here for the original piece on our website
Elaine Campaner, The Lake 2017
On Our Collections
A much loved work by Elaine Campaner (1969–2020) that has just taken pride of place on our walls in our new home in Melbourne. More on this work — click here.
Klara Langer 1912–1973, Hungary
On Our Collections
Photography collections can be fun! I love good ‘table top’ works and we have a number in our collection. This is one — and I have written a small piece about it — click here
Thilly Weissenborn
photographer of former Dutch East Indies
Have uploaded information about this early 20th century woman photographer
with links to a special photo-web presentation/translation on a 1983 book originally published in Dutch. Have also included links to research on Thilly.
Click here.
Hélène Hoppenot
Following my research, collection acquisitions and exhibition on Southeast Asian photography while at the National Gallery of Australia, in 2014 I wrote a piece about Hélène Hoppenot and 1930s women modernist photographers in Southeast Asia. Till now this essay has been unpublished. It is now online — click here — more or less unchanged from the 2014 version with a few notes and links added.
Gender journey and genres 1994
revisiting my archive
The current national and international attention on women artists prompted me to plumb my archive where I found this 1994 commentary on the status of women in photography.
The Movement of Women 1996
Another piece from my archive
In a previous post I talked ‘gender, journeys and genres (1994).
Another find was The Movement of Women 1996.
International Women’s Day 2023
Enjoying a morning cuppa in a quiet place in our garden — wearing suffragette colours to celebrate International Women’s Day and the legion of awesome women photographers past and present I have encountered in my curatorial career.
The theme this year is #EmbraceEquity. There are so many gains but still so stubborn a gap in equity, is it time for militancy???
Here’s to all of you — enjoy the day wherever you are…
Parting With Your Art — Women:s Art Register
A Guide for Australian Artists
I have uploaded a page about the Women:s Art Register and their very handy publication Leaving Your Legacy: A Guide for Australian Artists.
The guide is a comprehensive starting point — and the organisation is definitely worth supporting. Click here.
Re-constructed Vision
Contemporary work with photography 25th July-23rd August, 1981
Over the recent years I have been searching through my archives for articles and essays that we have since published on our web-site. I had overlooked one exhibition. That was the 1981 Project Gallery exhibition Re-constructed Vision: Contemporary work with photography at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
It is now uploaded to our web site.
On Our Collections
James Jameson circa 1866–84
Comments and observations on a CVD of a nanny and two children — click here
On Our Collections
E. B. Mowll – Portrait
Comments and observations on a striking portrait by the E.B. Mowll Studio — click here
Curators and Photography
Have uploaded to our photo-web site a special section on the first photography curators — Australian that is. We have listed four: Jennie Boddington, Ian North, Gael Newton (me!), and Alan Davies. The listings for Jennie and myself include 1983 interviews by the Australian Centre of Photography. These are very long! (you have been warned)
If you know of any other useful online material on these people, please make contact.
Michael Riley
The elders: Indigenous photography in Australia
The wonders of looking through your own archive. I realised I had not uploaded an essay from 2006 on Michael Riley. Have now — so here’s the link — click here.
Photojournalism by Jessica Lange
The Guardian online presentation
Highway 61 revisited — photographs of this historic route. Click here
Australian Feminist Photography
Indecent Exposures:
Twenty Years of Australian Feminist Photography
My 1994 review of Indecent Exposures: Twenty Years of Australian Feminist Photography by Catriona Moore, Allen & Unwin in association with the Power Institute of Fine Art, Sydney — click here
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For the list of my essays (being updated) click here
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2018
Celebrating a Pioneer of Australian Photojournalism
Celebrating IWD — 8th March 2018
Adelie Hurley (1919–2010) - The first Australian female commercial photojournalist
Coffee in O’Connor
Keeping warm and enjoying a coffee
Time out on a freezing cold morning in Canberra
Anna Gray AM
Queen’s Birthday honour to former NGA curator
As listed: Dr Anne Mary Gray AM
Maggie Diaz photography prize for women
Call for entries
click on image for details — entries close 26 July 2017
FEMINIST AVANT-GARDE OF THE 1970s
till 29 Jan 2017 — Photographers Gallery London — click on image above
Dina Goldstein
Anne Shelton
Ann Shelton opens at Auckland Art Gallery
click on image for news about the photography exhibition 26 Nov 2016–17 April 2017
A creature from our worst nightmare
Image linked from a site by Amy Dickinson — click here
Female Abstract Expressionists
Yes they were there
click here — for a story on the presence of females amongst the abstract expressionists.
Wei Leng Tay—The Other Shore
Click on image for the exhibition details at China In The World (ANU)
Helen Muspratt
Click on image
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day 2016
Mansplaining a qualification for being a federal bloke
another male federal politician, another of Malcolm Turnbull’s chosen boys, demonstrates how being patronizing to women must be a qualification for being in the Turnbull government.
Continue reading Mansplaining a qualification for being a federal bloke
Witches both mad and bad: a loaded word with an ugly history
From The Conversation, Michelle Smith, Deakin University
Over the weekend, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton inadvertently sent a text message calling journalist Samantha Maiden a “mad f—ing witch” to Maiden herself, rather than his intended recipient, fellow MP Jamie Briggs.
Continue reading Witches both mad and bad: a loaded word with an ugly history
Peace for Paris
Anne Summers reports
August/September 2015 issue available online — click on the image for the reports
Anne Summers Reports
Anne Summers Reports — April/May 2015
Please download Anne’s latest report on many issues — always a good read. And once you have read the reports, see if you can support this publication by becoming a subscriber. Click on image for the link.
Equity at the movies
There’s a way to go yet to achieve equity
I suspect as with climate deniers, there are people who think that the western world has achieved equity for women and for the non-white races.