The Mourners
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)
Friday 17 June 2011 to Sunday 07 August 2011
Exhibition
previously on
at
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)
in
Fitzroy-Collingwood precinct,
Victoria,
Australia
The Mourners is a series of portraits documenting the ritual of wearing black as a signifier of perpetual mourning. In remembrance of those they have lost, all that sit for a portrait in the series wear black everyday for the rest of their lives.
The controlled environment of a traveling studio replaces existing backdrops of nursing home corridors, living rooms and church halls. Stripped back to the point where only the faintest trace of the sitter’s surroundings remain, the portrait brings the viewer to the periphery of an ultimately private space.
Deflecting the unflinching eye of the camera with an averted gaze, the women are absorbed by the void that is black, living mementos – vessels for mourning, fixed by a photograph, which in turn alludes to a double death.
Location
Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP)404 George Street
Fitzroy-Collingwood Precinct
Victoria
Australia
