brianrope

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The Bees and the Ledger, and An Satong Kawaran

Photo Media Exhibition Review The Bees and the Ledger | Kai Wasikowski An Satong Kawaran | George Calvelo Photo Access | 15 May – 14 June 2025 Bees in the Ledger is described as being a kind of slow family work. Whilst you may well know little about the artist’s grandmother, Natalia Broadhurst, who is the central figure in the story presented here, you very likely know a lot about other…

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Colour The City

Colour The City Destination NSW is the lead NSW Government agency for the New South Wales (NSW) tourism and major events sectors. One of its roles is to market Sydney and NSW as a major events destinations. It owns, manages and produces the annual event known as Vivid Sydney, a celebration of creativity, innovation and technology. For 23 days and nights, from 23 May to 14 June in 2025 (its 15th…

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Stilleven

Visual Art Exhibition Review Stilleven I Rose-Mary Faulkner ANCA Gallery I 14 May – 1 June 2025 A decal is “a plastic, cloth, paper, or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water.” Rose-Mary Faulkner transfers images onto kiln formed glass. She layers several related images before further…

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LIGHT | INTERSECTION and NUDES

Visual Art (Photography) Exhibitions Review LIGHT | INTERSECTION I Alex WalkerNUDES | Skye Thompson Photo Access, Canberra | 11 April – 10 May 2025 I will start by suggesting these two exhibitions have no obvious or apparent relationship to each other. One is about drawing us into “a dynamic encounter where light is both subject and material.” The other “floats towards” troubling family…

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Emotional Landscapes II

Visual Art Exhibition Review Emotional Landscapes II I Margaret Gordon, Manuel Pfeiffer and Alan Pomeroy ANCA Gallery I 23 April – 11 May 2025 In July/August 2024, ANCA exhibited Emotional Landscapes I by Jenny Adams, Julie Delves, Eva van Gorsel & Delene White. Van Gorsel subsequently received a Canberra Critics Circle award for her imaginative and creative observations and, in particular,…

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THE BASEMENT – Photography from Prahran College (1968-1981)

Photography Book Review: THE BASEMENT – Photography from Prahran College (1968-1981) Published by Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh) (2025). Print production Wilco Art Books, Amersfoort (NL). ISBN: 978-1-876764-88-3. 277×208mm, 232 pages, 261 images This significant publication celebrates a key period in the history of the Photography Department at Prahran College, during the years…

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Cries of the Anthropocene: Creative Practice in response to climate change

Visual Art Exhibition Review Cries of the Anthropocene: Creative Practice in response to climate change | Various Creative Practice Circle members The Chapel, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (15 Blackall St, Barton, ACT, Australia) 2 – 24 April 2025, 10 am – 3 pm, Wed – Sat (closed Easter weekend) After a successful exhibition at Wagga, Cries from the Anthropocene is now in…

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counter-sites

Exhibition Review: Visual Art counter-sites l Isabella Capezio, Aaron Claringbold & Rebecca McCauley, Matt Dunne, Nicholas Mahady, Christine McFetridge, Jahkarli Felicitas Romanis Photo Access l 7 March – 5 April 2025 Whilst visiting this exhibition I learned that the gallery staff had received some unusual feedback about it. As I left after exploring the exhibits, I commented that I would…

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Review and Learn

Every few months I write a piece for publication on the APS Focus page of Australian Photography magazine. My latest piece Review and Learn has been published in the current (April-May 2025) issue. Here it is (below a scan of the published piece): I started writing articles for this page back in January 2017. Since then I’ve also written numerous reviews of visual arts (mostly photography)…

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Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers

Visual Art Exhibition Review Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers NLA Exhibition Gallery I 27 February – 20 July 2025 The National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra holds more than 18,000 photographs in the Fairfax Archive of glass-plate negatives . Published in newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun and The Sydney…

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BLAZE 2025

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope BLAZE I Sophia Childs, Sophie Dumaresq, Gabrielle Hall-Lomax, Emeirely Nucifora-Ryan, Brennan O’Brien, Jessika Spencer Canberra Contemporary I 8 February – 17 April 2025 This exhibition is an emerging artists’ showcase. Now in its fifteenth iteration, BLAZE presents diverse voices at the beginnings of their art careers. It exhibits bold and…

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Poetry, Song and Lies Club - Culture and the Anarchy Green Society

This is a story about a piece of Canberra’s history. I received a message out of the blue on 17 January 2025 from a Pete McMahon. It read “Hi Brian. Are you the photographer involved in old photos of Canberra Australia?” I replied saying “Not sure what you mean exactly. I’ve been around photographing Canberra myself since March 1959. What’s your interest?” That resulted in a phone conversation.…

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Until Justice Comes

Photography Book Review Until Justice Comes (Fifty Years of The Movement for Indigenous Rights. PHOTOGRAPHS 1970 – 2024) Juno Gemes | First Nation’s Resistance Photography | Large format flexibound, 284×234mm, 348 pp I ACKNOWLEDGE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES ISLANDER PEOPLE AS THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS AND CUSTODIANS OF COUNTRY THROUGHOUT OUR NATION. Cover of Until Justice Comes Until Justice Comes is…

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Footsteps and Frames – A Travel Diary Of China

Photography e-Book Review Footsteps and Frames – A Travel Diary Of China | Pele Leung Publisher: Pele Leung Photography Chinese Edition first published 2016 English Edition translated by DeepSeek AI in 2025 After working in the information technology industry for over twenty years, Melbourne-based Pele Leung decided to change his career and became a photographer. Since then he has travelled…

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Waves of Kinship

Exhibition Review: Photography Waves of Kinship | Marzena Wasikowska Platform by Canberra Contemporary (previously CCAS Manuka) 7 – 23 February 2025 (11am – 5pm, Fri – Sun) Marzena Wasikowska is an excellent visual artist specialising in photomedia. Having participated in a workshop series she led four years ago this month, I can attest that she also is an excellent tutor. Inspired by…

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VIEW 2025

Visual Art Exhibition Review VIEW 2025 I Cailyn Forrest, Adam Hsieh, Fiona Lee, Aia Solis, Emma Winkler Photo Access I 23 January – 22 February 2025 VIEW2025 shares artworks by emerging artists Cailyn Forrest, Adam Hsieh, Fiona Lee, Aia Solis, and Emma Lyn Winkler. It is accompanied by a publication offering insights into current photographic trends. Cailyn Forrest is a Doctoral candidate in…

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… Is somebody gonna match my freak?

Visual Art Exhibition Review … Is somebody gonna match my freak? | Sophie Dumaresq & Asil HabaraM16Artspace, Gallery 1 I 24 January – 16 February 2025 …Is somebody gonna match my freak? is an exhibition by two multidisciplinary artists Asil Habara and Sophie Dumaresq. They were the 2024 recipients of the M16 Artspace ANU Emerging Artists Support Scheme residencies.The exhibition’s title is…