Where I Stand

Where I Stand is a stirring photographic exhibition from six iconic Australian artists – Michael Cook, Dr. Judith Crispin, Sarah Ducker, Murray Fredericks, Barbara McGrady and Michael Jalaru Torres.

Telling visual tales captured simply but powerfully in single frames, these 24 intensely personal works take viewers into realms of transformation, rebirth, identity, history, nature, connection and the Dreamtime.

Where I Stand is presented by Kambri at ANU and aMBUSH Gallery and curated in partnership with Moshe Rosenzveig OAM, founder and festival director of Head On Photo Festival.

It will run from 27 July until 31 October along the newly launched 'Exhibition Avenue', an innovative initiative of Kambri at ANU, produced and curated by aMBUSH Gallery.

Exhibition Avenue is a 24/7 public exhibition space along University Avenue that will showcase a free year-round program of multidisciplinary exhibitions and activations, to platform and support emerging and established artists and provide an ever-changing 'walk of art' for staff, students, locals and visitors to Canberra alike.

The artists chosen for Where I Stand have diverse backgrounds and art practices:

Michael Cook (QLD) is an award-winning photographer who worked commercially in Australia and overseas for twenty-five years. In 2009, he began to make art photography, driven by an increasingly urgent desire to explore issues of identity. His photographic series are unique in their approach, evocatively recreating incidents that emerge from Australian colonial history.

Dr. Judith Crispin (ACT) is a Canberra-based poet and visual artist, with a background in music. Her work includes themes of displacement and identity loss, a reflection on her own lost Aboriginal ancestry, but primarily it is centred on the concept of connection with Country. 

Sarah Ducker (NSW) has a creative life that's evolved through a number of different media, from theatre direction to documentary filmmaking, before finding its most eloquent expression in photography. Regardless of the subject matter, Sarah's work reflects the pure charisma of nature through a refined and sensitive eye. Every image is invested with the lyricism of the poetic in nature. 

Murray Fredericks (NSW) studied politics and economics at Sydney University before traveling in the Middle East and in the Himalayas. Spending large amounts of time in these powerful locations provided the basis for his essentially self-taught photography. Some years into his exhibiting career he completed a Masters of Art and then his MFA. His work is derived from a perspective that views culture as something that cannot be wholly accounted for through social construct.

Barbara McGrady (QLD/NSW) is a Gamilaroi/Gomeroi Murri Yinah (Woman) and a passionate advocate for telling the true stories of contemporary Aboriginal life, documenting her mob's achievements, humanity and beauty through a unique lens. As both an observer and protagonist in the ongoing conflict between Aboriginal culture, spiritual connection to country and Australian colonial sensibilities, McGrady clearly defines the implications of this disconnect in her work. 

Michael Jalaru Torres (VIC) is an Indigenous photographer and media professional inspired by the unique landscapes and people of the Kimberley region. His photography draws on his personal history and explores contemporary social and political issues facing Indigenous people. Much of his work involves conceptual and innovative portraiture and abstract landscape photography. 

Where I Stand will be on display 24 hours a day, powered by solar lights along University Avenue.

Visit www.ambushgallery.com for more information, and look for aMBUSH Gallery on Facebook and Instagram for exhibition updates.