The renowned Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France, is showcasing Australian photographers for the first time in a major exhibition titled "On Country." This groundbreaking show features more than 200 images from 17 photographers and artist collectives, offering visitors a comprehensive window into contemporary Australia that goes far beyond typical postcard imagery.
The exhibition presents a nuanced portrait of modern Australia, focusing on the lives of Indigenous Aboriginal populations, issues of identity, environmental concerns, and climate change. The featured artists and photographers tell stories that reveal the complex realities of Australian society today, moving away from romanticized tourist perspectives to address serious social and environmental challenges.
Among the notable projects is "Super Heroes of Warakurna" by Tony Albert and David Charles Collins, which invited children to create their own superhero costumes. As exhibition curator Elias Redstone explains, "Showing them as superheroes is very powerful: it shows these children that anything is possible in their lives." This project exemplifies the exhibition's approach of empowering Indigenous voices and perspectives.
One of the most poignant works comes from photographer Tace Stevens with her project "We Were Only Little Boys," which addresses the Stolen Generations - Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their families and placed in institutions. Stevens has personal connections to this tragedy, as her own grandmother was among those affected. She returned with former residents to the Kinchela Boys' Home for Aboriginal youth, which operated until 1970, creating powerful portraits of elderly men at the site where they experienced trauma as children.
Stevens' work creates a compelling dialogue between past and present by juxtaposing her contemporary portraits with archival photographs taken when the center was operational. "These archival images were propaganda images, meant to show Australians that the children were happy and healthy, when that was false," Stevens explains. "I included them in this exhibition because when you look at them alongside those of the elders who lived in these homes, you can see on their faces that it was not a happy experience."
Photographer Adam Ferguson contributes another significant body of work, documenting rural Australia through a decade-long journey across the bush and the most remote parts of the country, known as the outback. His photographs capture both portraits of people living in these isolated areas and images that bear witness to the impact of climate change, including droughts and floods. "One of the goals of my project is to represent typical characters at the heart of Australian bush mythology. A glimpse of what rural Australia is," Ferguson states.
Ferguson's work provides crucial documentation of how climate change is affecting Australia's vast rural landscapes and the people who call these remote areas home. His images serve as both artistic expression and environmental testimony, showing the real-world consequences of global warming on one of the world's most climatically vulnerable continents.
The "On Country" exhibition runs through October 5 at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, offering international audiences an unprecedented opportunity to engage with contemporary Australian photography and the diverse stories it tells about the nation's present-day realities.
