http://www.ccp.org.au/ Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) is one of Australia’s premier venues for the exhibition of contemporary photo-based arts, providing a context for the enjoyment, education, understanding and appraisal of contemporary practice. en-au 2010 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/WithoutWordsTomNicholson.mp3 Without Words brings together photographic and video works from both art and documentary realms that engage with emotional affect, sincerity, passion and empathy. When art photography has abandoned its indexical relation to the real, how might it convey sorrow, humiliation, love or grief? Equally, can austerity be a powerful force in the historical record? Tom Nicholson is an artist and Lecturer in Drawing at the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University. Nicholson’s cross-media and performative practice engages with ideas of the monument and action in relation to sovereignty and the formation of individual and collective history and site. He has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at The Hague, Berlin, Sienna and Santiago. He is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne and Sydney. Podcasts Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/WithoutWordsKylaMcFarlane.mp3 Without Words brings together photographic and video works from both art and documentary realms that engage with emotional affect, sincerity, passion and empathy. When art photography has abandoned its indexical relation to the real, how might it convey sorrow, humiliation, love or grief? Equally, can austerity be a powerful force in the historical record? Kyla McFarlane is Associate Curator, CCP. Podcasts Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/AlisonNordstrom.mp3 Dr Alison Nordström will survey the history of George Eastman House—the oldest museum of its kind in the world—since its opening in 1947. Nordström will address the formation of Eastman House collections and the influence of those collections on our understanding of photographic history. She will discuss the seminal Eastman House exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape (1975). In its day, New Topographics signalled the emergence of a new approach to landscape photography. Finally, Nordström will consider how contemporary artists like Abelardo Morrell, Mark Klett and Simon Norfolk are using 19th century material to explore the contents and form of the historical archive. Podcasts Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/burgin.mp3 In October 2008 I was invited to join a group of artists and academics in Cyprus to inaugurate the 'Famagusta Project'. In August 1974 the Varosha suburb of Famagusta was encircled and cordoned off by the then invading Turkish army. The former beach resort, now in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus, has remained an unoccupied exclusion zone ever since. The organisers of the 'Famagusta Project' defined their aim as that of bringing an 'artistic point of view' (regard artistique) to Varosha in order to explore symbolic dimensions of the situation inaccessible to a 'journalistic or historical' approach. Almost all of the artists invited to take part in the Project were photographers and filmmakers working within one or other 'documentary' tradition. Discussions between participants during the week they spent together revealed differences both in regard to the definition of an approach that is 'artistic rather than journalistic or historical' and in their political response to the division of Cyprus. On my return from Cyprus I posted a response to the organisers, on a blog dedicated to the Project, in which I questioned the idea of an 'artistic regard' that might offer insights into violent historical events that were denied to other points of view. In my talk I expand on these remarks. Podcasts Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/MatthewSleethGlobal.mp3 What are the relations involved in the global production of photographs? In what ways are new technologies influencing, shaping or impinging on these relations? Does photography have a specific place in globalisation? Are some kinds of photography more global than others? Is Photography Global? aims to begin an international conversation among critics, historians and practitioners of photography on global thinking within the discipline. Podcasts Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/NatalieKing.mp3 What are the relations involved in the global production of photographs? In what ways are new technologies influencing, shaping or impinging on these relations? Does photography have a specific place in globalisation? Are some kinds of photography more global than others? Is Photography Global? aims to begin an international conversation among critics, historians and practitioners of photography on global thinking within the discipline. Podcasts Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/PaulJames.mp3 What are the relations involved in the global production of photographs? In what ways are new technologies influencing, shaping or impinging on these relations? Does photography have a specific place in globalisation? Are some kinds of photography more global than others? Is Photography Global? aims to begin an international conversation among critics, historians and practitioners of photography on global thinking within the discipline. Podcasts Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/DavidBate.mp3 What are the relations involved in the global production of photographs? In what ways are new technologies influencing, shaping or impinging on these relations? Does photography have a specific place in globalisation? Are some kinds of photography more global than others? Is Photography Global? aims to begin an international conversation among critics, historians and practitioners of photography on global thinking within the discipline. Podcasts Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/DanielPalmerGlobal.mp3 What are the relations involved in the global production of photographs? In what ways are new technologies influencing, shaping or impinging on these relations? Does photography have a specific place in globalisation? Are some kinds of photography more global than others? Is Photography Global? aims to begin an international conversation among critics, historians and practitioners of photography on global thinking within the discipline. Podcasts Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/SundhyaPahuja.mp3 Inspired by rumours of WMDs and secret sites in Iraq, American photographer Taryn Simon decided to address secret sites in her own country. For An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar 2006, Simon photographed hidden places and things within US borders. Her subjects range across realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. As Australians, what do we make of Simon's America, are we both intrigued and repelled? While this series has been described as the 'aesthetic antithesis of photojournalism' Simon draws upon traditions of documentary photography to create this disorienting image of contemporary America. Podcasts Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/AlisonYoung.mp3 Inspired by rumours of WMDs and secret sites in Iraq, American photographer Taryn Simon decided to address secret sites in her own country. For An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar 2006, Simon photographed hidden places and things within US borders. Her subjects range across realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. As Australians, what do we make of Simon's America, are we both intrigued and repelled? While this series has been described as the 'aesthetic antithesis of photojournalism' Simon draws upon traditions of documentary photography to create this disorienting image of contemporary America. Podcasts Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/KylaMcfarlaneTS.mp3 Inspired by rumours of WMDs and secret sites in Iraq, American photographer Taryn Simon decided to address secret sites in her own country. For An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar 2006, Simon photographed hidden places and things within US borders. Her subjects range across realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. As Australians, what do we make of Simon's America, are we both intrigued and repelled? While this series has been described as the 'aesthetic antithesis of photojournalism' Simon draws upon traditions of documentary photography to create this disorienting image of contemporary America. Podcasts Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/NaomiCassTS.mp3 Inspired by rumours of WMDs and secret sites in Iraq, American photographer Taryn Simon decided to address secret sites in her own country. For An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar 2006, Simon photographed hidden places and things within US borders. Her subjects range across realms of science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security, and religion. As Australians, what do we make of Simon's America, are we both intrigued and repelled? While this series has been described as the 'aesthetic antithesis of photojournalism' Simon draws upon traditions of documentary photography to create this disorienting image of contemporary America. Podcasts Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/DarrenTofts.mp3 In his book Mutant Media (2007) John Conomos discusses the possibility of a reclusive narrative, a narrative yet to be written. That narrative, of local video art in Australia, remains as elusive today as it was in 1994, when Nicholas Zurbrugg asked a similar question. Zurbrugg was writing on the cusp of the emerging paradigm of interactive media art, Conomos at a time when the fervour of new media had all but disappeared. Perhaps somewhere between these two poles of anticipation and longing we may find some answers to a persistent question, but also to the question of why we keep asking it in the first place: why is the history of Australian video art as yet unwritten? Podcasts Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/IanHaig.mp3 A cultural shift occurred in terms of video art in the 1980s with the introduction of the domestic VHS video recorder, the first video libraries, and the ability to record and cut up appropriated material — the seeds of an early remix culture. At this time, developments in technology with the introduction of digital systems such as the Fairlight Computer Video Instrument and Amiga computers saw the early hybridisation of video which lead to new funding initiatives to support video and emerging technology. There was also a shift in the critical reception of video art, as the practice became contextualised within 'screen culture' and less within the space of the gallery due to theatrical screenings of artwork at festivals such as the Australian Video Festival. Podcasts Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/Perkins_1970s.mp3 In his paper Archive Fever (1998) Jacques Derrida suggests that the archive is motivated by a need to discover the seminal historical moment, as a way of owning those initial times in history. So while the archive can be seen as an institution dedicated to issues of preservation, storage and retrieval, it is also motivated by a need to capture and own those moments in history. This knowledge may affect our translation of events and objects that occurred after and indeed before those archived artifacts were created. In the context of video art in Australia identifying that 'historical moment' is not without its problems, primarily because documenting this history has been somewhat neglected. In Australia in the 1970s video was marked by its experimental pluralism with a variety of approaches to the medium, for example: commenting on the social or political; documenting performances; and exploring the synthetic potential of the video image and television as a mass-media icon. This lecture will trace a number of these important historical threads through the 1970s and highlight the importance of accessing these works via archives and collections. Podcasts Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/JaneLydon.mp3 In 1927 an inquiry into the Forrest River massacre sent shockwaves across Australia. Photographic evidence was tendered to the inquiry: how were these images seen at the time? How should we look at them now? The horrified public preferred to look at more eloquent images of Indigenous suffering. This talk reviews these parallel ways of seeing Aboriginal people and the role of photography in arguing for Indigenous rights. Podcasts Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/PennyEdmonds.mp3 In 1923 a set of photographic tableaux illustrating key historical moments between settlers and Maori peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand was produced. Penny explores this series, in particular Signing the Waitangi Treaty. In this tableau vivant we see how the Treaty was performed as the 'Maori Magna Carta', portraying the apparent transference of English liberties and rights to Maori peoples. Podcasts Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/AnneMaxwell.mp3 This paper examines one of photography's more controversial social applications or performances, its cooption by the eugenics movement, which lasted from 1880 to 1940, when photography was unambiguously thrust into the world of colonial race-based politics. Podcasts Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/DianneJones.mp3 Dianne Jones foregrounds the homogeneity of dominant visual ideologies, while creating representations that are inclusive of marginalised bodies and voices. Drawing on family experiences and memory, Jones disrupts stereotypical and racist notions of what constitutes 'Indigeneity'. Podcasts Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:59:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/WendyRedStar.mp3 Wendy Red Star grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in south central Montana, USA. She is half Crow Indian and half Irish American. Red Star's art explores her cultural and ethnic hybridity—the notion of navigation and negotiation between the two worlds she occupies. Working across different media including photography, installation and sculpture, Red Star will discuss her practice. Podcasts Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/DavidMalin.mp3 David Malin is a British-born astronomical photographer who between 1975 and 2001 worked at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Sydney. His training and previous career in chemistry enabled him to pioneer methods—including 'malinization'—of radically enhancing faint photographic images of distant galaxies and other celestial phenomena, greatly increasing the information obtainable from them. Malin has had a galaxy and a minor planet named after him. Among his many publications are Colours of the Stars (1984, with Paul Murdin) and A View of the Universe (1993). Podcasts Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:12:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/JeremyMould.mp3 Jeremy Mould gained his PhD from the Australian National University and held postdoctoral positions at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory, and the Observatories of the Carnegie Institute of Washington. He joined the Caltech faculty in 1982. He returned to Australia in 1992, where he became Director of Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories. He was Director of the US National Optical Astronomy Observatories from 2001–2007. He is now Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne School of Physics. Podcasts Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/ChristopherStewart.mp3 Christopher Stewart will discuss how the tensions between content and concept and the transition in relation to dissemination and destination for documentary photography have continued to play out in recent photographic culture. He will include examples from his own practice. Christopher Stewart is Associate Professor in Photography at RMIT University. He is the Director of the Cultures of Photography research hub in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. He is represented by Gimpel Fils in London where he exhibited Super Border, a solo exhibition, in 2009. His work is included in the Thames and Hudson publication The Photograph as Contemporary Art and he is currently showing in the group exhibition Darkside at the Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. Podcasts Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/LloydHusseySmith.mp3 David Lloyd and Kelly Hussey-Smith will discuss the latest edition of The Australian PhotoJournalist: Picturing Human Rights. Compiled in response to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the editorial board sought to evaluate the success of the declaration and to expose the stories of those who have fallen through the cracks of this most noble vision. The Australian PhotoJournalist (APJ) is a crusading journal provoking debate, challenging entrenched orthodoxies and seeking to position journalism and documentary practice within its more noble traditions. Importantly the APJ seeks to give voice to those marginalised, forgotten or ignored. Podcasts Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/Editioning.mp3 What are the considerations for artists when editioning paper or screen-based work? What underpins market confidence in editioning practices? This panel of experts from the commercial, education and public gallery sectors will explore the issues surrounding the editioning of photography and video art. Speakers will address principles, practices and problems within the arenas of analogue and digital media drawing upon local and international experience. Podcasts Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series_08.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/MelissaMiles.mp3 Although we have invested heavily in light as a symbol of photographic truth and clarity, it has acted as a strangely volatile force in photography. This lecture will explore some of these dazzling qualities of light in an effort to rethink the possibilities of photographic practice and history. Dr Melissa Miles is a lecturer in the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University. Melissa's research on photography has been published in The Journal of Visual Culture, Word and Image, Southern Review and Eyeline. Her book, The Burning Mirror: Photography in an Ambivalent Light, will be published by Australian Scholarly Press in 2008. Podcasts Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:13:58 +0900 http://www.ccp.org.au/lecture_series_08.php http://www.ccp.org.au/podcasts/ShauneLakin.mp3 This presentation considered the notion of the photographic historical record—a wonderful Victorian artefact predicated on the idea that it is possible to produce a comprehensive and reliable record of a part of the world or an event through photographs. The presentation will use as its example the Australian War Memorial’s extraordinary photographic archive, paying attention to the way that record has been produced and used. The paper will consider some of the issues that now test both the ‘comprehensiveness’ and the ‘reliability’ of the photographic record. Shaune Lakin was recently appointed the Director of Monash Gallery of Art. Before this appointment, Shaune Lakin was Senior Curator of Photographs at the Australian War Memorial, where he worked on a number of major exhibitions and published the first sustained account of Australian war photography and the institutional history of the Memorial’s extraordinary photographic collection. Before joining the Memorial in 2005 he was Curator of International Painting and Sculpture at the National Gallery of Australia. Podcasts Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:13:58 +0900