City of Shadows

Inspired by the Sydney Living  Museum's photography exhibition of forensic and police photography in early 20th Century Sydney, City of Shadows – A song cycle of murder, misfortune and forensics is a unique experience that brings to light the vulnerabilities of the forgotten, the danger of our weaknesses and the need for love of our fellow man.

A musical ode to archives of perpetrators, victims and vicinities of violent crimes, each photograph is a quiet intrusion on personal pain, justified only because it may lead to the truth. Haunted by faces and taken by the brutal beauty, honesty and the humanity behind the images, Rachael Dease has created songs that may begin to do the dead justice, and give the living pause for thought.

City of Shadows – A song cycle of murder, misfortune and forensics pairs an exquisite new voice with a gritty, violent soundscape and a string quartet comprising some of Australia's best young contemporary players.