From the exhibition there were two photographs that stayed with me:
1. A photograph by Robert Frank titled 'Caerau, Wales 1953'.
The photo was a black and white portrait of miners from Caerau in Wales. There was a dark dirty quality mixed with the most profoundly overpowering sense of melancholy. I was caught off guard by the emotion that flowed from the work into my very being. Within moments I was flooded with sadness and unable to break the link; their eyes imprinted into my mind, silently pleading.
'Caerau, Wales', 1953 by Robert Frank, gelatin silver print 23 x 34.8cm
Image from http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LargeImage.aspx?image=/lotfinderimages/d49723/d4972309x.jpgAlong with this photo was a Robert Frank reflection on photography from 1958 that had a huge impact on me:
" Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference ... it is important to see what is invisible to others. Perhaps a look of hope or a look of sadness."
2. A photograph by Yee I-Lann titled Huminodun
This was the photograph that had been used to promote the exhibition. It is amazing just how much more you get from seeing an actual print. On the screen I wasn't able to see the details. The faint white swirls in the sky that are repeated in soft black curls of hair that dance through the landscape. The theme of fertility and femininity are clear; the pregnant woman entwined with a blade of wheat taken in her motherland. The photo had this very real and still surreal quality. Beautiful and haunting. It was my favourite piece, in regards to one that I would hang in my home.
image from http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/media/mediaReleases/154/display
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