Brenda Croft

In the lecture we watched more of the program Art + Soul, this time about the artists Lin Onus, Yvonne Koolmatrie and also the works of Brenda Croft. The thing I found most interesting in this episode was when Brenda was talking about an image in a book she owns called Aboriginal Australians which depicts 10 women in a line, who are positioned according to their 'percentage' of Aboriginality. On the right hand side there stands a 'full blooded' Aboriginal, and on the left hand side a white European women. Unfortunately I was unable to find the orginal image, but it has influenced Brenda so much that she has co-opted it into some of her photographic pieces.

Don't Go Kissing at the Garden Gate, 1998 from Colour B(l)ind Ilfochrome print

She Called him Son, 1998 from Colour B(l)ind Ilfochrome print

The images are combined with old photographs of her father, who was taken away from his family as part of the stolen generation. In one She Called Him Son he stands reunited with his mother. These photographs are combined with words and the image of the ten Aboriginal to European women. The use of this image seems to suggest that this scientific analysis of how 'full blooded' is not relevant to how an individual feels, or their connection to their family.

Sources: 1, 2

Ricky Maynard

Broken Heart 2005 silver gelatin print 43 x 41.5 cm

In My first post about this subject I wish to talk about an image that struck me in the lecture where we watched part of the ABC documentary written and presented by Hettie Perkins, Art + Soul. This is an image by documentary photographer Ricky Maynard called 'Broken Heart', from the collection 'Portrait of a Distant Land', which depicts the artist himself looking across the water to the his homeland. Here he is honouring his ancestors who were banished from Tasmania by white settlers to surrounding islands. Researching further into this history I learnt how the settlers had attempted genocide on the Indigenous Australians and when they tried to defend their land they were subject to violence, and were eventually forced from their homeland. This picture really stood out for me, as you can feel the sense of a tragic past that he is looking back on. The collection is made up of 10 images that celebrate the history of Aboriginal Tasmanians, from an Aboriginal perspective. He aims to tell the stories of his people from their perspective, and in doing so reclaim Aboriginal history from the European point of view, which we so often hear about. I have included a few more images from the collection I liked.

Vansittart Island’ from the series ‘Portrait of a Distant Land' 2007 ‘The Spit’ from the series ‘Portrait of a Distant Land’ 2007

‘The Mission’ from the series ‘Portrait of a Distant Land’ 2007

Sources: 1, 2