Jimmy Pozarik ‘A Year in the Life’ opening 15th of May

As ‘Artist-in-Residence’ for Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation for 2012, Jimmy Pozarik spent 12 months embedded with staff, patients, family and friends in another world.

“You will be moved, inspired, informed and charmed by this amazing collection. Jimmy’s ability to capture the human spirit – and the resilience and humour of the brave patients and their families - is breathtaking and intense.” Roxanne Fea, Arts Curator for Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Tom Goldner ‘Volta’ opening 15th of May

Early in 2011, Melbourne documentary photographer and Photo for Freedom founder, Tom Goldner went on a photographic journey through the remote Lake Volta region, a fishing community in Ghana where human trafficking is rife. During this trip he photographically documented the stories of the adults and children he lived with.

Goldner’s Exhibition, ‘Volta’, together with not-for-profit organisation YGAP (Y Generation Against Poverty) aim to raise awareness about, and put an end to, moDern day slavery in Ghana. Goldner wants to use his art to effect social change.

Goldner’s haunting black and white images empathetically communicate the emotional lives of Ghanaian children: revealing their joy and innocence along with the traumatic effects slavery has had on their lives and their community.

Vlad Sokhin ‘Crying Meri’ opening 15th of May

Since the beginning of 2012 photographer Vlad Sokhin has been documenting violence against women in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s closest neighboring country.
In Papua New Guinea two thirds of women are constantly exposed to domestic violence and about 50% of women become victims of sexual assaults. In Chimbu and Western Highlands provinces, 97% and 100% of women surveyed respectively said they had been assaulted. Local men do not respect their meri (‘women’ in PNG Pidgin), constantly beating them, often using bush knives and axes.

It is very rare that violence-against-women cases are brought to court. Most assailants spend a few night in a prison cell at the police station and are then released. The police claim the lack of conviction stems from the fact that victims often fear filing a statement or that many wives take pity on their husbands and insist on the termination of the case.

According to the Family Support Center’s statistics, more and more violence against women happens in middle class families, where lawyers, policemen or even church pastors strike their wives. Rejected and beaten women are often kicked out of home to the street, where they then became easy targets for the ‘Raskol’ gangs.

‘Raskol’ gangs rule the settlements in the capital city. Raping women is a ‘must’ for the young members of the gang. In most Papua tribes, when a boy wants to become a man, he should go to enemy’s village and kill a pig. After that, his community will accept him as an adult. In industrial Port Moresby women have replaced pigs. While in traditional villages such attitudes toward women could be attributed to tribal culture, today in Port Moresby violence against women shocks modern society.

Phil Klaunzer ‘Mungo’ opening 15th of May

These images were made from two expeditions to Lake Mungo in Outback New South Wales in June 2008 and July 2009. After each rain, freshly exposed bones of man and beast clearly depict the cycle of life.

“I’ve always been fascinated with human history, life-cycles and the passage of time; nowhere is this better illustrated than at Lake Mungo where you literally have the footprint of man in the landscape dating back millennia. Ice age human footprints, 20000 years old, have been uncovered here.”

I was drawn to Lake Mungo by the story of Mungo Man and Mungo Woman, the site of the oldest ritual cremation in human history. As a photographer I was drawn to graphic nature of the landscape, which ultimately influenced my decision to print in black and white.

In the digital darkroom I used Silver FX software, which allowed me to evoke an ephemeral mood simulating the traditional black and white printing process by adding film grain, tonality, contrast and toning.

Brett Ramsay ‘Lesiure[e]scapes’ opening 15th of May

What we do in out leisure and vacation time can reveal much of the dreams and desires of our society. In ‘LEISUR[E]SCAPES’, Brett Ramsay explores the purpose-built leisure spaces on Queensland’s Gold Coast, investigating society’s increasing trend towards the hyperreal experience.

These spaces are built as a simulacrum to another place or another time; however, total realism is never achieved. In the series, this tension is highlighted by the juxtaposition between the simulation and the everyday. By drawing attention to the absurdity of our leisure environments, ‘LEISUR[E]SCAPES’ seeks to interrupt our suspension of disbelief, bring forward the hyperreal, and appeal to the common sense of the viewer.

Brett Ramsay is a Brisbane based photodocumentist, he completed a bachelor of Photography with first class honours in 2012 at Queensland College of Art. Brett has previously exhibited at the Queensland Centre of Photography, Griffith University Art Gallery, Gold Coast Arts Centre and Gallery on the Lane (Southport Qld). In 2012, Brett Ramsay won the Southbank Public Art Prize and in 2013 was a finalist in the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award.

Coming soon to Global Gallery