Here is a photo of a painting the G W Bush has hanging in the Oval Office at the White House. It is one of GW's favourites. He likes to tell the story that goes with it.
He likes it because the identity projected through the Bush Administration's policies on issues from global warming to preemptive warfare, are based on the premise that Bush is a lone cowboy, rushing headlong to carry out a God-given charge.
His followers today tend to see in Bush what he sees in the painting: a brave, daring leader riding fearlessly into the unknown, striking out against unseen enemies, pulling his team behind him, seeking, in the words of Wesley's hymn, "to do my Master's will." They see him as a straight shooter and a straight talker. They take comfort in his religious faith and think he is leading us toward a mountaintop."Source
Of course the truth of the painting is somewhat different from the the romantic ideal that GWB sees. The painting is really called “Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught.”. It is of a horse thief fleeing a lynch mob carelessly ignoring the wellbeing of his stolen charge as he rides recklessly across the landscape.
Hang on a minute! It does somehow seem to fit in GWBs office afterall.
(Bene has a more thoughtful piece obn the painting and Mr Bush here.)
Google Earth has captivated The Green Man and clearly the artists at The Glue Society. Here are a couple of their images of biblical scenes as they may have appeared from Google Earth.
Noah's Ark as the time of floating approaches
The parting of the Red Sea for Moses.
The crucifixion
Time Tales is a collection of found old photographs.
This one was found Suitcase in a basement in Hønefoss Norway in 2003
An interesting site to visit for random glimpses of images from earlier times.
This polychromic pictograph is that of an archaic style stupa with a swastika (yungdrung) painted in the same red ochre pigment which identifies this as a Bon composition. It is probably early Buddhist period to 1300.
The image forms one of a vast catalogue of Asian art at www.asianart.com. If you are interested in art be prepared to waste quite a lot of time here.
Head on Alternative Portraits is an Australian national annual photography portrait competition and exhibition representing a vibrant diverse cross-section of new and traditional photographic practices.
Here is one of the finalists "Flic" by Wendy McDougall
The Green Man has posted before on Banksy who is one of the more insightful of the art terrorism movement. Here is another magnificent piece
Click on the image to visit Banksy and see a larger version
Note: no elephants were psychologically damaged in the taking of this photgraph.
Thinking about purchasing a piece of fine art? Perhaps you should have done it in 2005. The chart below shows mean sale prices for works of fine art for the last 8 years.
In the Hindu religion the goddess Durga is an incarnation of the Devi or Mother goddess. She manifested when evil forces threatened the very existence of the gods. To enhance her power all the gods contributed to her radiance. She is considered a potent force for good and in one incident she killed the mighty Mahisha.
This event is being celebrated in the Great Court of The British Museum as part of the "Voices of Bengal" exhibition where Bengali artists are constructing a spectacular image of the goddess Durga killing the buffalo-headed demon Mahisha. If you are fortunate enough to be in the vicinity you can watch them construct it using traditional techniques using straw, clay and paint. For the rest of us images of the construction are available on the British Museum web site Click Here
In the northern most reaches of Norway high above the arctic circle lies the small community of Alta. Like many of the towns of northern Norway it was razed by the retreating Germans as the end of World War 2 approached. Architectually it is unremarkable, rebuilt with a utilitarian design that the extreme cold of the arctic winter encourages.
This town would be of relatively low artistic interested except that 6,000 years ago on, what was then, the shore of the fjord, early inhabitants of this area recorded their lives in rock carvings which last until today.
The stone in which they carved their stories and their religous activities is slightly recrsytalised grey-green sandstone. Formed around 1,800 million years ago it is fine grained, massive and hard.
There may have been as few as 50-100 people living in this remote community but they left a legacy that is as fascinating as it is cryptic. In the scene below men can be seen hunting bear, reindeer and elk. Central to this carving and many of the others are the bear which are thought to have had special spiritual significance.
Below is a scene depicting the trapping and slaughtering of reindeer behind a large fence that was presumably constructed for the purpose.
and finally a scene from an expedition in a large canoe. The bow of the canoe, on the right, is adorned with a elk head. Elks were probably also considered to have mystical powers and their ability to swim well meant that they endowed the boat with seaworthiness. There are men holding weapons, presumably on a hunting expedition. The "T" shaped objects held by the men in the centre of the boat are thought to have represented axes.
Click on the images for more detail or click here to visit the Alta Museum
Ten Canoes is an intriguing and entertaining film about traditional indigenous life in Australias north.
Ten Canoes is a feature film that was shot on and around the Arafura Swamp in north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia in May and June, 2005. Whilst it is narrated in English, the film is unique in that it is the first feature film to be shot entirely in Aboriginal language (predominantly Ganalbingu), and it is set both in the past (centuries ago, before the coming of white people to Australia) and in the Ganalbingu mythical past.
If you are interested to move beyond the stereotypes and get a taste for Australian Aboriginal existance as it has persisted for tens of thousands of years then this film is an excellent vehicle. The Green Man rates it a "must see".
Well another Port Fairy Folk Festival has come and gone and it was a stellar event this year with a range of exceptional artists to mark its 30th anniversary.
Naturally, being a folk festival, The Green Man was there both in person and in song but he was not the only substantial Celtic figure at the festival.
This substantial gentleman was quite understandably commanding significant attention.
His dog "oggie" was also a hit however it is fair to say that there was some consternation from the children when they were wee'd upon.
So are these people genetically different from you. Well quite probably and it is not because they are full blood aboriginals from Alice Springs but because they are dancers. Prof. Richard P. Ebstein of Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found genetic differences in the serotonin transporter and arginine vasopressin receptor 1a genes in studies of 85 dancers and advanced dancing students.
Naturally the audience of The Green Man will be familiar with the neuroscience that underlies serotonin transporters and arginine vasopressin receptors, however to lubricate the synapses, serotonin transporters regulate the level of serotonin, a brain transmitter that contributes to spiritual experience and vasopressin receptors have been shown in many animal studies to modulate social communication and affiliative bonding behaviors.
The dancer "type," says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.
You can read more here but only if you can read Hebrew.
Hmmmm what is that in that River Red Gum? Ah yes Bogong Moth pupae although somewhat bigger than you normally find.
From Brent Lawrence at Burning Man Festival.
Hey green man;I was just at my third year of burningman and I have seen the green man there every year. This year was different because of the colors pink and green. The
last two years the color of the man was blue. I know it may not make sense but I had pink and green dreams before the burn and before I knew that the man was going to be that color. Lots of people there had pink and green on and they didn't know either that the man was going to be pink and green. I was wondering if you, the green man, would know what the significance
of pink and green is vis a vis the natural world of the green man or of some other metaphysical construct. I didn't get a chance to talk to the green man this
year at burning man so I don't know his take of the subject. I am inviting you to come to the burn next year 2006 and you can camp with us, tikidom, if you
want to. It would be good to have a green man at our camp. It will be the 20 year anniversary of burning man as well. I have been drinking tequila this
afternoon so I am not typing as well as I might, let this not dissuade you from checking out the kindred spirits that are here in the states.thanks, brent,
Two Girls in Matching Bathing Suits by Diane Arbus. An intriguing social statement of a past era but is it worth $35,000? ArtNet think so. Click on the link to purchase this iconic image before it is snapped up by some other lover of kitch.
Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, New York says
André Kertész was a man of immense talent. Throughout his life he made photographs that are infused with a haunting poetry and quiet authority few other photographers of his time--or any other--could rival.
There is currently a retrospective of his work at The International Center of Photography in New York. It is worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.
via Art-Daily
Art does not have a problem generally with nudity, it is seen in many forms of artistic expression, but ballet has been one area where nudity has made few inroads.
Sir Robert Helpman, principal dancer with the Australian ballet, had a firm avertion to nudity in dance. He succintly sums up his objection as follows
"The trouble with nude dancing is that not everything stops when the music does"
The Australian Ballet is still somewhat hesitant at the inclusion of nudity although, as the picture to the right indicates, not completely adverse. It is a photo of a performance of Jiri Kylian's Bella Figura.
There are of course praticalities to consider vis-a-vis nudity within a performance and not the least of these is fiscal in nature. Dancers in Australia are covered by the MEAA's Entertainment and Broadcasting Industry (Dance Company Award), which sets a standard "nudity allowance" of $15.60 per performance.
hmmmm $15.60? It seems to The Green Man that if you were concerned about exposing flesh in public then $15.60 would not convince you and if you weren't then it is somewhat unnecessary. Such an odd amount $15.60. How much do these performers get for a performance? Can't be that much if $15.60 would matter.
MASS MoCA presents a truly monumental and uniquely American sculptural installation by Dave Cole. Cole is in residence at MASS MoCA with his project The Knitting Machine which comprises two excavators specially fitted with massive 20’ knitting needles. The product of The Knitting Machine is an oversized American flag – a flag which can be seen as both a celebratory gesture of pride and a commentary on America’s role in world affairs.
Dave says
The Knitting Machine combines the feminized domestic American tradition of knitting with the grandiose gesture of construction usually associated with masculine labor. The Knitting Machine challenges familiar notions of labor and production, while expressing a complex understanding of patriotism
Also on show is an installation piece entitled Memorial Flag (Toy Soldiers) (2005), a 5 ’ x 9-1/2’ foot flag crafted of 18,000 plastic toy soldiers wrestling beneath an impermeable glaze of red, white and blue. From a distance, Memorial Flag (Toy Soldiers) becomes an impressive display of an American icon, the flag. Up close, Memorial Flag reveals its source of texture – plastic men wielding guns. The flag complies with the exact specifications for an American flag as specified by the US Military and makes an interesting statement on the process by which the flag came into being and by which it is maintained.
(via Art-Daily)
The image above is entitled "Early Man Goes to Market" by an artist who calls himself Banksy. It is part of the collection of the British Museum and the interesting part of the story is how it came to be part of their collection. Banksy hung it there himself in Gallery 49 accompanied by a few sentences of explanatory text and attributed to "Banksymus Maximus".
The British Museum were completely unaware of this and continued the remain ignorant of their new acquisition until Banksy announced it some time later on his web site. On becoming aware of the existence of the painting the British Museum, being an icon in the preservation of cultures, saw it, correctly, as representative of a sub-culture of the western art movement known as "Art Terrorism" and incorporated it into their permanent collection.
In similar fashion Banksy has smuggled into and hung his work in the big four New York Museums, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Brooklyn Museum. All, as it happens, in a single day. In Museum of Modern Art he hung a painting of a cheap brand of British tomato soup, a send-up of Andy Warhol's iconic can of Campbell's, something that may not have displeased Andy Warhol at all, given the precept of this art.
Like mainstream artists much of his art has a political agenda such as this stencil work which is to be found across Bristol where he lives.
This clearly has a potent message but the major theme of his work is the iconoclasm of the mainstream art institutions. He says
Art's the last of the great cartels. A handful of people make it, a handful buy it, and a handful show it. But the millions of people who go look at it don't have a say.
He once painted a thought bubble on the wall of the elephant pen at the London Zoo: "I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring." The difficulty of that job gained the respect of the graffiti community but, more importantly, it caught the imagination of the public, which was happy to empathize with the elephants.
He says
I always wanted to be a fireman, do something good for the world ... to show that money hasn't crushed the humanity out of everything.
(via Wired)
Here is an artists impression of the new Freedom Tower that will be built to replace the World Trade Centre that was destroyed by terrorists in 2001. A number of statements have been made, principally by politicians, that the replacement would demonstrate to the world that America had not been cowed by the terrorist attacts.
Sigmund Freud introduced us to the concept of projection. In interpersonal terms it means projecting your own failings onto the person you are interacting with. For all the protestations of Mr Bush that the terrorist have not won, in this new building you can see a projection of the terror that these individuals have inculcated into the American psyche.
Rather than a defiant statement that America will not be cowed by the acts of a few extremists, the Freedom Tower demonstrates the extent to which the politicians, at least, have lost faith in America's military to protect the country. It is exactly the kind of nightmare that government officials repeatedly asserted would never happen here: an impregnable tower braced against the outside world. The base is an enormous 20-story concrete pedestal more reminisent of a medieval keep than a statement of freedom and liberty.
The remainder is reinforced in a way that states quite unequivically that its designers have no faith in America's ability to prevent a future attack of a similar nature.
The irony is, of course, that America is littered with suitable targets if terrorists were to, once again, use aircraft as a weapon against the USA. It is also a statement of denial in as much as we know that the very nature of terrorism is that it is opportunistic and that the next attack will almost certainly not involve an aircraft against a building.
Geoge Orwell, in his novel 1984, introduced the concept of "double-think" a situation in which the name of things was the exact opposite of their true meaning. The classic "doublethink" example Orwell used was how "the Ministry of Peace concerns itself with War; the Ministry of Truth with Lies; the Ministry of Love with Torture; and the Ministry of Plenty with Starvation."
The new "Freedom Tower" has a sadly Orwellian feel about it.
Think you can better this photo. Then PC Mag is having a competition, click on the image to find out more.
Painted by Raphael towards the end of his life La Fornarina is recognised as embodying the essence of Renaissance art which saw a challenge in the representation of the ideally beautiful woman, and by extension, perfect beauty in art.
The portrait's three-quarter-length view is typical of Renaissance portraiture, while the placement of the sitter's arms recalls the Venus pudica (modest Venus) seen in classical sculpture. This pose draws attention to the parts of her body she ostensibly attempts to conceal, intimating both innocence and seduction.
This is regarded as one of Raphael superior works for its virtuoso depiction of female beauty. It is thought to be of his long term model and mistress who was the daughter of a baker hence the title, fornaio is baker in Italian.
If you are fortunate enough to live within driving distance of Indianapolis Museum of Art you can see the original there until June 26th.
Just to counteract all the testosterone in that piece of news, I would like to give some information on something entirely unrelated and very feminine: the Paulina sculpture, by Antonio Canova.
The image shows the "Paulina" sculpture by Canova, which is in the Borghese Gallery in Rome.
Paulina appears as Venus, the goddess of beauty & love, lounging romantically as she is posing for a great artist to capture her form. Her robes drape softly, resting on the plush chaise. Paulina Borghese was the most powerful woman of her time.
After the great artist Antonio Canova (1757-1822) sculpted the now famous statue of Napoleon in the late 1700's, Napoleon's sister, Countess Paulina Bonaparte Borghese (1780-1825) wished to be immortalized as well. In 1808 she commissioned a statue of her to be sculpted by Canova as a stylized goddess, and insisted on posing semi-nude. She holds in her left hand the "Victorious Apple", the prize awarded by the city of Paris to the most beautiful woman.
The result was a scandal, since it was considered inappropriate for royalty to pose in that manner. Legend has us understand that the embarrassed Count kept the sculpture locked away to be seen only by selected viewers. However, when the Count was away one could view the sculpture by bribing the servants.
(republished from a comment by Katy (wordenwk@tcd.ie)
Australia's national capital is Canberra, situated on the planes of NSW approximately half way between Melbourne and Sydney it has been unkindly described as ‘a good sheep paddock spoiled’. In recognition of this noteable description and as a salute to one of the regions early farmers James Ainslie here is a sculpture located at the intersection of Petri Plaza and City Walk, Canberra by Les Kossatz
Les is currently lecturing in sculpture at Monash University Faculty of Art and Design.
So much for Renaissance art. Here is a painting by John Olsen entitled "Wildflowers passing lake 1982"
The painting is located at Heide Museum of Modern Art. John and Sunday Reed who owned Heide were enthusiastic supporters of the arts and cultivated a thriving community of artists living and working at and around Heide. They also loved wildflowers and, in recognition of this and their support, John Olsen donated this painting to their collection. Heide and its extensive art collection was bequeathed to the people of Victoria and is now a premier museum of modern art.
John Olsens view of landscapes, which is displayed in this painting, was a significant departure from the traditional approach of foreground, middleground and background. These landscapes are an amalgam of a view from above with the detail found when viewed from a ground level perspective. This approach drew on a traditional aboriginal approach to depicting scenes as well as from his classical training in European painting techniques.
Boy, I seem to have hit on a hot topic here. It seems that young Judith has a number of fans, strangely they are mostly female. Liz, not satisfied with depictions of Judith with the head of the unfortunate Holofernes, points to these paintings by Artemisia Gentileschi depicting the actual deed.
Severing the head.
Fleeing the tent
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1652/1653), daughter of well-known Roman artist, Orazio Gentileschi (1563 - 1639), was one of the first women artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art. At this time women artists were relegated to minor portraiture and never undertook major works such as the depiction of biblical scenes. For quite some time after her death her works were attributed to others, often her father. The works were inspired by a work by Caravaggio painted in 1599.
Artemisia took exception to Caravaggio depicting Judith as squeamish and timid. Accordingly in she depicts her Judith as a more forceful and commanding figure.
Katy Zei is clearly a fan of Judith (and which aspiring young woman wouldn't be?) She has kindly pointed to her favourite which is a statue by Donatello entitled Judith and Holofernes (1455-60) which resides in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
She does however take exception to Giorgione's portrayal presumably because Judith looks a bit on the meek side. She prefers a wilder looking Judith as is portrayed by Domenico di Giacomo de Pace. She is certainly less demure and perhaps goes some way to answering Tammy of The Ooze who was pondering on how Holofernes got so tired in the first place.
(image from Wallace Collection)
When the Assyrian army laid siege to her native town of Bethulia, Judith set out to save both the city and its people.
Making her way into the camp of Holofernes, commander of the enemy army, she entrances the soldiers with her beauty. Using her feminine wyles she captivates Holofernes who promptly invites her to be a guest at the evening banquet.
The evening progresses and much wine and food is consumed. Holofernes' senior officers and aides can take a hint and leave Holofernes in the company of the lovely and captivating Judith. As Holofernes dozes off Judith, in an act of remarkable ungraciousness, beheads him with his own sword.
The Assyrian army, feeling that Holofernes decision making capacity has been somewhat dimished with the loss of his head, abandon the seige and Judith returns to Bethulia having enjoyed an excellent meal, saved the city, and with the head of Holofernes as a trophy to boot.
The painting is by Giorgione (Giorgio da Castelfranco) 1477-1510 and is currently in the possession of Hermitage Museum.
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Edward Hopper painted this work, entitled Chair Car, in 1965.
The craft of the artist and 40 years have transformed $200 worth of paints and canvas into $14,016,000 worth of masterpiece. It set a new world auction record for the artist and made David and Helen Pall very happy and a lot richer. The previous record for a Hopper painting was $2.5m, which means they paid less than that for Chair Car when they aquired it.
It is a well crafted painting and all that but $14m? That is an aweful lot of money. Presumably the person who purchased it really really really really liked it.
Could this be anywhere else but Paris.
Taken in 1986 it captures the timeless romance of the city. The young woman in question is Françoise Bornet who was sent the photograph by the photographer Robert Doisneau several days after it was taken as part of a series for Life magazine. At first it was thought that the picture was unposed, but it was later revealed that Bornet and Carteaud were asked to kiss for the camera. Doisnea had seen them kissing in a café and he asked them to pose kissing.
If you are so inclined you can possess it. Ms Bornet is putting it up for sale in Paris soon.
(via Art Daily)
Click here to play some belly dance music whilst you are reading.
Monday morning at the Port Fairy Folk Festival was time for some belly dancing. As some what unusual time for middle eastern erotic dancing perhaps but most entertaining never-the-less. The dance troop is called Underbelly and hail not from Ankara but from Melbourne.
The origins of Belly Dancing are lost in the mists of time however it has been around in the middle east since the dawn of writing. Even today it retains its connection to fertility and eroticism by being an indispensable feature at weddings in many Middle Eastern countries. As well as providing entertainment for the guests at the wedding it is designed to get the bride and groom, who may have just met, in the mood for hanky panky, thus providing the blessing of fertility on the couple.
Moving along from the joint effort we were treated to a dance by one of the members of the troop using a middle eastern sabre, not that easily seen in the photo to the left. The sabre is, of course, the traditional weapon of the desert people of the middle east and it is only natural that it feature in their dancing. That is not to say that Belly Dancing has not moved with the times. The dance of the rocket propelled grenades that followed put paid to that notion.
By way of contrast the Celts are so much more down to earth when it comes to matters including erotic dancing. Over at the Guinness tent the previous evening a pause in the performance was created by a broken guitar string. What does one do in such a situation? Well if you are a Celtic band you invite women to come up on the stage and bare their breasts. A request to which a surprising number of young women, fired with Guinness and the encouragement of the crowd, responded.
It seems however that, whilst we are comfortable with foriegn eroticism, there was a singular lack of Australian eroticism, vis-a-vis table top dancers, at the festival, although that may have been because the portable tables in the tents were so wobbly. Occupational Health and Safety is a big concern these days.
Here is a painting by Velázquez entitled "Venus at her Mirror"
Apart from being a lovely painting it is interesting because the image that you see in the mirror of the face of Venus defies the laws of physics. The way the mirror is positioned you would not see her face.
This is an example of artistic licence. Velázquez has ignored reality to present a more compelling and attractive painting.
Continuing on the theme of yesterday on birth I include a picture of a sculpture by Ron Mueck entitled "Mother and Baby 2001"
One critic described it thus
the most unflinchingly affectionate portrait of childbirth you'll probably ever see
The Green Man finds it hard to disagree.
If you are interested in seeing more of his work then visit his web page at Life Castings
National Gallery of Australia has an exquisite piece entitled Pregnant Woman. Standing 2.5 metres high and at full term pregnancy it is uncompromising and at least a little confronting. Click here to see an image.
The Haredi are sects of Orthodox Judaism that reject modern secular culture for them nudity is a big no-no. So much so that an offer of a magnificent piece of art was treated with horror and rejected.
A replica of Rodin's 'Le Penseur' (The Thinker) was being offered to the city of Jerusalem by the Rodin Museum by the offer has been declined by the city because of the fierce opposition of the Haredi. Deputy Mayor Shlomi Atias, a Haredi himself, says
We cannot allow the placement of such a sculpture in a city like Jerusalem. If he was wearing a bathing suit, then maybe it would have passed, but he is totally naked.
The Green Man presumes that is a neck-to-knee type bathing suit he is referring to.
It seems to The Green Man that narrow minded, ultra-conservative attitudes such as these form part of the complex web of violence and death that characterises this Arab/Isreali conflict.
(via Art Daily)
Fancy a different piece of furniture for your house.
Guaranteed to liven up even the dullest dinner party this intriguing and somewhat disconcerting furniture is the work of Philip Johnson.
And if the chair is not disconcerting enough he also paints naked women somewhat more explicit poses on table tops. It seems to The Green Man that, when the elderly relatives are around for dinner, the positioning of a few strategic place mats would be prudent.
(Via ABC)
The Hindustan Times reports on the forced closure of an art exhibition in New York that featured a small acrylic painting of GWB composed of monkeys. The painting by Chris Savido was on display at the Chelsea Market public space and was receiving significant attention. (Of course this was reported elsewhere as well but I thought I would include the link to the Hindustan Times since monkeys are sacred to Hindus and one could speculate on the bemusement they would be experiencing over the cuffufle. If you visit their site they have a useful popup window that allows you to select from a selection of delightful indian brides.)
Naturally, being America, amidst the outrage at the painting itself is the outrage from the artist's camp on the violation of rights of free speach guaranteed by some sort of amendment to the American constitution.
In retaliation anonymous supporters of the artist have rented a billboard near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in New York displaying a copy of the image with censored across it. Thus an image that would have originally been seen by a few thousand people is now in prime display in New York and plastered across numerous sites on the internet, including The Green Man.
Great work by the Bush supporters wouldn't you say?
(Via Art Daily)
The Millau Viaduct opened yesterday in southern France. With seven slender soaring pillars it is now the highest bridge in the world at 343 meters (1125 feet).
"The time had come" The Green Man said "to speak of many things, mostly aboriginal"
And where better to do it than Camp Jungai. So it was that The Green Man abandoned the blog to the comment spammers for the weekend (490 comments over the two days) and headed off light of spirit to the said Camp Jungai. Along with the usual cultural activities that The Green Man indulges in, such as, eating far too much and reading the newspaper, there was a notable high point on the weekend which was a talk by the lovely Dr Jane Lydon on early photography of aboriginals, particularly at Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve.
Below is a photo entitled "The Yarra Tribe Starting For Acheron, 1862" by Charles Walter.
What makes this photo so interesting is that it is a set piece depicting a story. Photography was only about 20 years old at this stage and this style of photography did not become common until quite some years later. It is distinguished from the other photos in the collection by this characteristic and Dr Jane asserts that the reason for this is probably that it was orchestrated by the aboriginals themselves. She suggests that in exchange for posing for the more portrait style photographs that make up the rest of the collection the photographer, Charles Walter, agreed to take one whose composition was determined by the aboriginal group.
This photo gives us a glimpse of early aboriginals utilising a new media to represent a story in a similar manner to the approach that they used in their paintings on bark.
To the left is a drawing of two spirit people drawn in 1918 by an unknown aboriginal artist. It is easy to see the extension of this approach to depicting characters and stories to the photo they composed above.
On the left of the composition is Simon Wonga who is leading the expedition. Third from the left is a Mr Green who was the white overseer of the Coranderrk Reserve and was accorded a position of authority by Simon but he was not leading. A second row can just be seen behind the first which is a row of women who had their own line with their own hierarchy.
I will post more on this topic since I am greatly interested in it and so, naturally, all of you will be as well.
