Friday Round Up - 11 April, 2014

This week on Friday Round Up an eclectic collection of exhibitions from three female photographers in London, Melbourne and Sydney as well as more Tim Page unpublished photographs from his Sri Lanka series, an 'explosive' show from New Zealand and Melbourne's Strange Neighbour opens its darkroom. And a reminder to read Alison Stieven-Taylor's book review on Testament - Chris Hondros, one of the best books of this year to date.

Exhibition: London
Friedl Kubelka

Friedl KUBELKA Untitled (Pin-up), 1971

Born in London in 1946 and educated in East Berlin and Vienna, photographer and filmmaker Friedl Kubelka (Friedl vom Gröller) could be considered an early feminist. Known for her portraiture of friends and associates, many filmmakers and artists, Kubelka has also used photography as an exploration of self with intimate portraits used to question societal mores around women.

Friedl KUBELKA From Year Portraits

In 1972 she began her series ‘Year Portraits’ (Jahreportraits) a project that involved taking self-portraits everyday for 12 consecutive months (above). She has continued with this project every five years and a selection of these images will be on display along with another collection ‘Pin-ups’. This series was shot from 1971-1974 in Paris and Vienna and Kubelka has used herself again as a model. If you are in London this is a must see exhibition which addresses themes, and raises questions, that are still relevant. 

 Friedl KUBELKA Untitled (Pin-up), 1972

 Friedl KUBELKA Untitled (Pin-up), 1973

 Friedl KUBELKA Untitled (Pin-up), 1971

 Friedl KUBELKA Untitled (Pin-up), 1971

Until 23 May, 2014
Richard Saltoun
111 Great Titchfield Street
London W1W 6RY

Exhibition: Melbourne
Hoda Afshar – Under Western Eyes

Hoda Afshar’s series "Under Western Eyes" comprises digitally manipulated photographs that are designed to shift the conversation around the representation of Islamic women as subjugated and suppressed. Afshar is originally from Iran and now living in Melbourne.

All images (C) Hoda Afshar

Of this series Afshar says, "veiled women are often portrayed as an homogenous group; powerless subjects whose veil serves either as a symbol and tool of oppression, or is celebrated as an exotic commodity. As such, the images of Muslim women have been reduced to easily decodable stereotypes. In this series I intend to emphasise the reductive interpretation of the identity of Muslim women in the West and praising of such imagery as an attitude bound up with aspects of exoticism".

Until 3 May
Edmund Pearce

Level 2

Nicholas Building

37 Swanston Street Melbourne

Exhibition: Sydney
Annabelle Gaspar – Love You To Death

Sydney photographic artist Annabelle Gaspar's dramatic underwater photographs draw on the Baroque aesthetic, and are redolent of the paintings by masters of that period with their swirling colours and ethereal beauty. Here Gaspar uses the water as a filter, with fabric, light and movement combining to create worlds that hover in the realm of fantasy.










All images (C) Annabelle Gaspar

Until 27 April
Black Eye Gallery

3/138 Darlinghurst Road

Darlinghurst, Sydney

Exhibition: Melbourne
Geoffrey H. Short – Towards Another Theory

Working with movie special effects technicians, New Zealand photographer Geoffrey H. Short has created his series – ‘towards another theory’ – by photographing actual explosions set on the black sands of New Zealand’s west coast. Using “fossil fuel with all its geo-political associations mixed with gunpowder and its own history of war, plots and dangerous entertainment,” Short explores concepts of “risk, terror, beauty and the sublime” in these highly dramatic, allegorical images. 

All images (C) G.H. Short

1-31 May
Colour Factory Gallery
409-429 Gore St 


Fitzroy ( Melbourne)

Darkroom Facilities
Strange Neighbour

Today Fitzroy gallery Strange Neighbour launches its new darkroom facilities. See the link below for all the details. The team behind Strange Neighbour is creating a fantastic space for photographers. If you are in Melbourne it is definitely worth checking out.

Strange Neighbour
395–397 Gore St 

Fitzroy (Melbourne)

More Tim Page Unseen

(C) Tim Page

Continuing with our exclusive unpublished series of photographs by legendary photojournalist Tim Page, this week we share another set of images from Page’s Sri Lanka archive. Click on the link here or at the top of the blog.