Friday Round Up - 9 October, 2015

This week on Friday Round Up an incredibly moving photo essay from Swedish photographer Magnus Wennman leads the post, plus exhibitions in Melbourne, country Victoria and Sydney. Lots of diversity in this week's selection of images from exhibitions by Andrew Chapman, Helga Leunig, Luke Hardy, Sally McInerney, Keiko Goto, Berylouise Mitchell and Gerard O’Conner. Take a look.

Photo Essay:
Magnus Wennman – Where the Children Sleep

Award-winning Swedish photojournalist Magnus Wennman has created a series of portraits of Syrian refugee children sleeping – it is one of the most moving photo essays I’ve seen. You can read each of the children’s stories here and find out how to lend support.

Exhibitions:

Melbourne & Surrounds

Victoriana Pleasure Gardens

Photographer Gerard O’Connor and stylist Marc Wasiak create a fusion of nineteenth-century high fashion, art and culture in this glamourous collection of works that depict the hedonistic and extravagant 19th Century Victorian garden party. 

Until 18 December
NationalTrust
Tasma Terrace
6 Parliament Place
East Melbourne

Helga Leunig - Mother Country

This exhibition features photographs taken over a 20 year period by Helga Leunig who was at the time living on a farm in north-east Victoria. This selection is chosen from her book, “Mother Country: Reflections of Australian Rural Life” which includes an essay by Cate Kennedy who says: “From the well-loved, well-used tea cups which have survived generations to the old fenderless car body slowly disappearing into the vegetation, Helga’s images are permeated with understanding. There is not just an overriding feeling of serene melancholy, but something steadfastly respectful in the ordinariness of her subject matter”. It's a beautiful collection and worth the drive to Benalla, a couple of hours out of Melbourne. 

Until 22 November
Benalla Art Gallery 

Botanical Gardens
Bridge Street
Benalla

Andrew Chapman - Political Vision and other work

Multi-award winning Australian photojournalist Andrew Chapman presents a series of images from his latest book, Political Vision, plus a few old favourites from his Woolshed Series in this exhibition in Geelong. Here's a snapshot of some of the gems from Political Vision - there'll be a full interview and book review published here sometime in the not too distant future. Andrew will be giving a talk about the work this Saturday. 

Until 24 October
Artist talk this Saturday 4pm
Metropolis Gallery
64 Ryrie Street
Geelong

Keiko Goto - Sakhalin

In this exhibition Japanese photographer Keiko Goto showcases her exquisite black and white hand printed silver gelatin photographs of the Russian Island of Sakhalin, which has been under Russian rule since the end of WWII. This island has been heavily mined for decades - coal and now gas - and has also been developed as an industrial site. 

Over four years Keiko travelled to Sakhalin, located 42km north of Hokkaido, to document the seasonal changes of the island. In the process she discovered the communities that survive the island’s harsh climate to live in harmony with nature. Here time seems to have stood still, the residents living an existence far simpler, yet perhaps more connected, than those on the mainland.

Until 31 October
CF Gallery
409-429 Gore Street
Fitzroy

Sydney Exhibitions: 

Sally McInerney - Nauru Diary: Impressions of an Island
This exhibition features images taken by Sydney photographer Sally McInerney over two visits to Nauru Island in the past year. Here she presents a selection of images and personal diary entries combined with a small collection of reproduced historic photos from the archives of the State Libraries of NSW and Queensland. Sally's work delivers a different perspective of the tiny Pacific Island that has been in the spotlight due to Australia's heinous refugee policy. The exhibition closes this weekend. 

Until 11 October
Janet Clayton Gallery
406 Oxford Street
Paddington  

Luke Hardy - PATINA
In this new body of work Sydney photo media artist Luke Hardy continues to explore his passion for the Japanese aesthetic, with a series of intimate portraits that hover between reality and the dreamscape. In these images Luke says he is trying to capture the moment of waking, when the dream lingers fleetingly, a ghostlike memory that fades as the conscious mind takes over. The result -beautiful, sensual portraits.

14-25 October
Janet Clayton Gallery
406 Oxford Street
Paddington

Berylouise Mitchell - The Birdsville Cup
Most Australians are familiar with the Birdsville Cup which is oft referred to as the ‘Melbourne Cup of the Outback’. This two day racing carnival held annually in the remote outback town of Birdsville in Queensland - a mere 3200 kilometres west of Brisbane, literally in the middle of nowhere near the intersection of the Queensland, NSW and Northern Territory borders - has long held fascination for Australians, especially those city slickers who romanticise the outback and its stories. Birdsville has one of the harshest climates on the planet. Its permanent population of around 120 swells to nearly 7000 when the Cup is on.

As a student, photographer Berylouise Mitchell documented every aspect of the race. That was 25 years ago. To mark this anniversary she has published a book through crowdfunding, donating 100 copies to the Birdsville community to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which is an essential service for those living remotely. The book 'The Birdsville Cup' will be released at the exhibition of the same name, which is on at Janet Clayton Gallery 14-25 October. These black and white photographs are an important historical record and the story they tell is worth knowing. 

World Photobook Day October 14 

This year MAUD Creative Gallery in Brisbane will host an eclectic exhibition featuring photographs of photographers and their favourite photography books. I've nominated mine, a mad collection of images Strange Friends by Slovenian photographer Bojan Brecelj. 

What's yours? 

To find out more about Maud Gallery's activities visit the Gallery here.