"Love at First Sight: Chris Barry, Pat Brassington, Janina Green, Siri Hayes, Rebecca Ann Hobbs, Selina Ou, Sanja Pahoki, Kimberly Roxburgh, Julie Rrap, Anne Zahalka"
2002-09-20 until 2002-10-19
Centre for Contemporary Photography
Fitzroy, VI, AU

Historically, from Margaret Cameron onwards, photography has been a medium that has been embraced by women. Love at First Sight is a celebration of this long-standing relationship. The exhibition recontextualises a genre in photography that has been around since the invention of the camera: portraits. The impact of photography on this genre has been so extensive that portraits are often synonymous with photographic portraits.

'from the first moment that I handled my lens with a tender ardour... it has become to me as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigour' - Julia Margaret Cameron, 1874

Love at First Sight celebrates women in front of, behind and next to the camera. The exhibition is composed of three photographic portrait series. Janina Green's large-scale hand-coloured series captures adolescent girls in the sexually charged space between childhood and becoming women. Siri Hayes' mural-sized colour photographs are a contemporary interpretation of the Renaissance figures of Madonna and Child. Finally, the self-portrait series by 10 photo-based women artists at different stages of their careers, offers an investigation of their relationship to the camera as mechanical tool, and to image-making in general.

This project was supported by a Pat Corrigan artist grant, managed by NAVA with financial assistance from the Australia Council.

Related Links:

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