Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia Essay

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Updated: Mar 13th, 2024

Introduction

Like any form of visual art, photography is the same body that encompasses visual images to serve a purpose: an event, a cause, a show, or an essay with message. It captures images as they are, with the knack of the photographer to depict that which may have not been depicted before: cunningly, timely, or accurately as he or she may or may not have intended.

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For those who go further than their intended personal audiences, exhibit is the next step to take in order to show to a bigger audience the success or failure in capturing images. There are those who mount exhibit mostly for fame, or to gain wealth, or more wealth. The photographic exhibit I am writing about is “Lorosa’e Rising Sun” featuring works of photographer Luka Kauzlaric.

Discussion

Installation

Kauzlaric’s materials are documentary with a photography stint at villages in East Timor. A panel showed an introductory detail about the theme and subjects of the photographic essay. The photos were exhibited poster sizes mounted on wood panels, hanged on both sides of the exhibit hallway as the venue entails. There was sufficient lighting to provide a justified view of all the photos, at a convenient level for most of the viewers.

Subject Matter

The documentary photographs include both black and white as well as coloured images that depict villagers, mostly children, Internally Displaced Persons or IDS, their roads, dwellings and struggles. Several of the photographs depicted a child each, staring at the camera, curiosity in their eyes, as if to ask, “What is this person doing?” Another depicted a classroom shack made of old, salvaged galvanized iron sheet walls and roof, shoddily built to shelter elementary students, with the students once again staring at the camera. Another photo depicted alone construction labourer building his concrete house which is still incomplete, this one in colour. Two photographs showed rough roads badly damaged by river flood, and another, a water pipe across a field. Other photos depicted seemingly abandoned buildings, which also showed as remnants of the 1999 war in the area.

The Space

The concept of space in the exhibit depicts that of loose and un-articulated. The photos were not cropped to magnify details or focus on a certain detail. They are like ordinary point-and-shoot photographs of a curious traveller in a local area he has not been to before. They seem to say, “Hey, this child in front of his house is interesting, let me take a shot!”

The prologue to the exhibit stated that, “The project, using members of the local community, was to build large gabions baskets and divert the river from the village, back onto it’s usual course and protect them from another devastating wet season,” (Kauzlaric, 2009) which is filled with imagery: of men and women working on large gabion baskets, near the riverside. But nowhere in the exhibit were photos shown of men or women building gabions baskets, or showing the river.

When is the work from – is it contemporary?

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The photos were taken in 2008, years or almost a decade after the civil war in East Timor broke. It is considered contemporary as these are depictions of post-war and still troubled era of East Timor. The difficulties of life are rife with the vast needs for humanitarian and social works.

How the work sits historically?

Historically, the photographs provide period images that are factual. However, these are not compelling, depicted in a not-so-urgent manner. From the point of view of a privileged audience, these may be interesting, but different from a well-travelled or knowledgeable person. These are ordinary depictions of poverty but not in a dire situation. A lot of poverty-themed images dot the internet today that are passed on from one email to another in seconds, so that images of lesser impact such as that of Kauzlaric could become unnoticed.

What is the message of the work – is this message clear and emotive?

The message of the work is quite vague. Photos of children staring on cameras are very common from third world countries, and these East Timor photos which want to convey “poverty”, “needs help” or among other things lack the detail provided by the words of Kauzlaric, he could have been a better reporter, or journalist.

Compositional aspects of the work

Kauzlaric’s composition is considered as that of the amateur or neophyte level. He lacked the spirit of adventure that sets apart many recognized photographers who depict either art, commercial subject, or an essay. He needs to experiment more on taking action photographs that actually depict people or children doing something, aside from staring at him, or his camera. In depicting a need for books in a local school, he could have taken photos of the children reading old United Nations Books, and not just a class with a few children catching him take photos.

Use of colour/ black and white

Kauzlaric may be a little bit convincing about using black and white photos but Kauzlaric still need to go beyond “travel photography” if he wants to convey messages that appeal to the visual sense. It would work best for Kauzlaric to use black and white, or light and shade with a purpose and not just for the sake of it.

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How the work sits in regards to previous work by the artist

The artist as mentioned earlier is still at amateur stage where point-and-shoot are common. When compared to his other works that depicted mostly college mates, he was given an opportunity this time to observe and even document the plight of East Timorese children and locals, as well as the locality.

Conclusion

Professional photography encompasses various fields of specialisation such as commercial photography, artistic photography, experimental, (Friedman, 1995, 310) as well as Adobe Photoshop-manipulation. With the onslaught of digital and intelligent still cameras and computer programs that easily tinker photographic images, it has become an impossibility to determine real from untouched photographs.

This serves, however, as a challenge to aspiring as well as professional photographers. Many photographers do not choose their subjects or themes, but come up with photographs that provide exactly what is asked of them, and for those who are luckier, provide more than what has been paid for them. The trick is to be as inventive and resourceful as much as possible, so much like any entrepreneur.

References

Kauzlaric, Luka. “Images from Timor” 2009. Web.

Friedman, Alan J. “Exhibits and expectations,” Public Understanding of Science”, Jul 1995; vol. 4: pp. 305 – 313.

Appendix

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IvyPanda. (2024, March 13). Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia. https://ivypanda.com/essays/photographic-exhibition-in-melbourne-australia/

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IvyPanda. (2024) 'Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia'. 13 March.

References

IvyPanda. 2024. "Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia." March 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/photographic-exhibition-in-melbourne-australia/.

1. IvyPanda. "Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia." March 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/photographic-exhibition-in-melbourne-australia/.


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IvyPanda. "Photographic Exhibition in Melbourne Australia." March 13, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/photographic-exhibition-in-melbourne-australia/.

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