DOCUMENTARY EXHIBITION opens at Global Gallery on WEDNESDAY 16TH MAY 6-9pm as part of HEAD ON…
Origins: The Roots of Hip Hop Culture - David Maurice Smith
“In this marginalized setting, the struggle for respect and recognition of those distilled in Dave’s photographs is evident in their bejewelled fists and ostentatious garb and in the brash, American pride with which it is worn - as if a magic suit which lifts its wearer out of inadequacy and into a state of affluence. Human interactions both primal and passionate are captured at the extremities of the emotional spectrum. There is a sense of threat, of foreboding in these photographs. Violence and sex compete for ascendency while the humdrum of home and family life behind the bravado provides a dichotomous yet endearing and intimate portrayal of the widely practiced but little understood culture of hip hop.” – Oculi photographer Andrew Quilty,
‘Origins’ is a reportage that goes deep into the boroughs of New York City to present cinematic documentary imagery of the culture of hip hop at its roots. The work explores the culture and conditions out of which hip hop was born as a form of expression and a reaction to the life in the ghettos of New York City.
Old, Sad and Mad - Kevin Cooper
Pashupatinath, the only elderly persons home operated in Nepal, lies on the banks of the holy bagmati river, just behind the Ghats where the dead are cremated daily. Established in 1882, and run by the Social Welfare Elderly Home Committe since 1977, it is home to 230 elderly Nepalese who have no home elsewhere. They spend their remaining days wandering the green slippery cobbled stones or curled in a fetal position on an old mattress, some spending a fleeting moment basking in the sun.
The faint sound of TV and radio is heard amongst the wailing of pain and the silence of dementia. Amongst the despair there are glimmers of hope, of community, of strained friendships, but with no more than one meal a day, the white dresses of the friendly faced mother Teresa ladies and a few young International volunteers, Cooper’s reportage is raw, emotionally charged and pervading but it is not without humanity. At all times it beckons the question, ‘Is there a better way?’
The Unforgotten Song - Ella Pellegrini
Ludza was known as the “Jerusalem of Latvia”. Once a thriving Jewish community of more than 3,000 people, it was ravaged first by a great fire in 1928, and then by the German occupation. On one day alone in 1941 more than 800 Jews were murdered at Lake Zorba outside the town. Most of the other residents were killed as the war continued and the survivors fled to Israel when they could.
Today, just 15 Jewish residents are left in this former Judaistic capital. Ella Pellegrini discovered the last members of this dying community, and was greeted with open arms. Her photographs within this moving and inspiring exhibition tell their story.
Australian Street Photographers
The ASP Group is Australia’s premier Street Photography Group, comprising of over 450 members from around the country. The ASP Group Exhibition provides a depiction of Australian life from the eye of the Street Photographer and a glimpse into the Australian psyche which is often overlooked in our everyday lives. The ASP Group Exhibition is a unique and distinct record of Australian culture which has never been shown in public before.
Nowhere - Andrew Rose
‘Nowhere’ is a personal and autobiographical work shot between 2000 and 2011 in Brazil, the UK, Australia, and an airport in Taiwan. By means of black and white film photographs the images are of places passed through: a truck stop, an airport motel, or various objects: a Hills Hoist, an abandoned car seat.The work is a meandering stream-of-conscientiousness set of photographs exploring the idea of home, growing up, loss and loneliness.
