an essay:
Being written.
Place holder text.
Hashem McAdam
Lebanon
Lebanon is a land of contrasts - with a history of conflict, struggle, coexistence, and perseverance. At least this was my perspective, as an Australian born Lebanese photographer revisiting the country in 2022. Although I was primarily drawn to the immense beauty and varied landscape, the scars of conflict and struggle were still apparent since my last time there in the 90s. Yet beyond hardship, I saw hope and resilience. Resilience seems to be the unofficial “theme” of the Lebanese people. This is also represented by the Cedar tree, being the national symbol (as seen on the flag). In the second image, a road sign reads Ralentir (French for “slow down”). It also displays the Arabic directive “khaffef sayrak” - which in Levantine Arabic, carries a figurative meaning as well. The closest expressions I can think of are “take it easy” or “slow your roll”. Perhaps an invitation to pause, to surrender? The root of Ralentir (lentus) in Latin carries meanings such as “yielding”, “tenacious”, and “flexible”. Unfortunately, things have gotten harder for many Lebanese people since my trip in 2022, and the famous “resilience” is wearing thin. Following Israeli bombardment, many have been displaced and the country’s road to recovery grows longer. I present these images as a testament to Lebanon’s perseverance and beauty. Profits from any prints sold will be donated to my family members affected by events over the last year.
Lebanon is a land of contrasts - with a history of conflict, struggle, coexistence, and perseverance. At least this was my perspective, as an Australian born Lebanese photographer revisiting the country in 2022. Although I was primarily drawn to the immense beauty and varied landscape, the scars of conflict and struggle were still apparent since my last time there in the 90s. Yet beyond hardship, I saw hope and resilience. Resilience seems to be the unofficial “theme” of the Lebanese people. This is also represented by the Cedar tree, being the national symbol (as seen on the flag). In the second image, a road sign reads Ralentir (French for “slow down”). It also displays the Arabic directive “khaffef sayrak” - which in Levantine Arabic, carries a figurative meaning as well. The closest expressions I can think of are “take it easy” or “slow your roll”. Perhaps an invitation to pause, to surrender? The root of Ralentir (lentus) in Latin carries meanings such as “yielding”, “tenacious”, and “flexible”. Unfortunately, things have gotten harder for many Lebanese people since my trip in 2022, and the famous “resilience” is wearing thin. Following Israeli bombardment, many have been displaced and the country’s road to recovery grows longer. I present these images as a testament to Lebanon’s perseverance and beauty. Profits from any prints sold will be donated to my family members affected by events over the last year.
Sara Maiorino
Observations On Surveillance
Through a series of haunting silver gelatin prints, Observations on Surveillance explores the concepts of security and safety in Australia. Drawing on research from abolitionist perspectives on the surveillance industrial complex, Maiorino invites the audience to reflect on our rights as individuals and as a community to privacy and consent. Furthermore, this series raises the question: is surveillance making us safer and who is benefiting from the surveillance industry? Through a series of black and white film images developed in the cell blocks of the Old Alice Springs Gaol (through the Women’s Museum of Australia Residency, 2024), Maiorino turns the camera on itself documenting methods of seeking ‘safety’ in Australia. Observations on Surveillance aims to open up space to reflect on the ethics and effects on the Australian community that the use of surveillance has, as well as space to reflect on the urgency to imagine alternatives. Sara Maiorino is a photographic artist and commercial photographer based in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory. Their work explores identity and the impact systems have on the individual and aims to make meaning and create connections through the photographic medium. Utilising their previous experiences as a social worker (Sara holds a BA of Social Work), Sara aims to engage and understand people within their environment and engage in political commentary outside of the constraints of the NGO and Government sectors. Sara was the winner of the inaugural Northern Territory Art Award in 2024 as well as a finalist in the Alice Prize 2024. Their work is held in private collections around Australia.
Indya Connley
‘Occupied’
The humble toilet can be a unique snapshot into a moment in time. They present a personal canvas for people to reveal their darkest confessions, share declarations of love and hate, or try their hand at poetry and comedy. Carelessly scrawled alcohol-fuelled streams of consciousness are adjacent to faintly written articulations of loneliness and sorrow, where the full spectrum of human experience is perceivable in these equally private and public spaces. The walls act as a record of our collective concerns, capturing current sentiment with political musings and statements that provoke debate and discussion on societal issues such as genocide, trans rights, and class inequality. Not just limited to written manifestations of expression, visiting the toilet can simultaneously be a form of escapism for those seeking solitude, or a sacred site for bonding and comradery. It offers a space where time moves in slow motion, void of any expectations from the external world. Indya Connley is a contemporary documentary and image based artist using the surrounding environment as a catalyst to explore the relationships between physical space, society, and identity. Her image making process for non-fiction storytelling focuses on intimate details and feature a distinct absence of people, despite often carrying themes of the human condition. Graduating from her Bachelor of Photography at RMIT in 2017, Indya has since been active in the photographic community, participating in many exhibitions such as the Everyday Climate Crisis Visual Petition (CLIMARTE Gallery, 2022), and Form and Flora (Brunswick Street Gallery, 2023), and had her first solo exhibition, WITHIN 5KM in 2022.
Mathias Dowton
Wilful suspension of disbelief
The fog begins to creep in, sights and sounds become irrepressible yet dull and distant. These streets become less familiar yet my feet seem to know where they’re going. This very moment feels so absurd and unreal, it’s back again. Creeping back into this dissociated state with every absurd thought that bounces around endlessly, wishing it would just disappear or maybe I would, I’m not sure. These images are a manifestation of my experience of depersonalisation and derealisation disorder, but were not created in the moment with this intention. Reflecting on my archive, common themes of alienation, existentialism and reality began to connect these images. Whether or not it is apparent in the moment of photographing, past experiences inform my choices when photographing and help in understanding myself on a deeper level. Only about 1% of the population experience this disorder throughout their life but most have had fleeting moments of it forgotten before even questioning further. These years with this have been the most challenging of my life yet they have brought me to where I am today and for that I am thankful. Hopefully these images can provide an insight into what goes on inside my mind and that of many others.
Sionainne Costello
The Salton Sea: Echoes of Creation and Extraction
The Salton Sea is a place of paradox—born from an engineering accident, now facing an uncertain future shaped by lithium extraction. This series explores its layered history: from an unexpected inland sea to a fragile ecosystem on the verge of transformation. As industry and nature collide, these images capture the tension between past and future, beauty and decay, promise and loss. Through this work, I invite viewers to witness a landscape at the crossroads of history and progress, where each frame tells a chapter of an unfolding story. Sionainne Costello is a contemporary multimedia visual artist whose work explores themes of identity and the conscious human experience. Sionainne studied a Bachelor of Film Production at SAE Institute and recently acquired a Master of Photography at RMIT Melbourne. They have been in multiple photographic group shows and had a solo show at Noir Darkroom in Melbourne 2019. Through their art, they seek to create a dialogue between the viewer and the subject, drawing inspiration from the relationship humans share with technology and the world around us. Costello’s projects often involve a combination of photography and videography, as they seek to experiment with different mediums and techniques to create unique and engaging works exploring themes of interconnection and transcendence. Their pieces often feature the cosmos, landscapes and portraiture, inviting the viewer to engage with the emotions and ideas conveyed within each work.
Bernie Cram
Ghosts of Black Saturday
The humble toilet can be a unique snapshot into a moment in time. They present a personal canvas for people to reveal their darkest confessions, share declarations of love and hate, or try their hand at poetry and comedy. Carelessly scrawled alcohol-fuelled streams of consciousness are adjacent to faintly written articulations of loneliness and sorrow, where the full spectrum of human experience is perceivable in these equally private and public spaces. The walls act as a record of our collective concerns, capturing current sentiment with political musings and statements that provoke debate and discussion on societal issues such as genocide, trans rights, and class inequality. Not just limited to written manifestations of expression, visiting the toilet can simultaneously be a form of escapism for those seeking solitude, or a sacred site for bonding and comradery. It offers a space where time moves in slow motion, void of any expectations from the external world. Indya Connley is a contemporary documentary and image based artist using the surrounding environment as a catalyst to explore the relationships between physical space, society, and identity. Her image making process for non-fiction storytelling focuses on intimate details and feature a distinct absence of people, despite often carrying themes of the human condition. Graduating from her Bachelor of Photography at RMIT in 2017, Indya has since been active in the photographic community, participating in many exhibitions such as the Everyday Climate Crisis Visual Petition (CLIMARTE Gallery, 2022), and Form and Flora (Brunswick Street Gallery, 2023), and had her first solo exhibition, WITHIN 5KM in 2022.
Lachlan Fysh
Overlooked Spaces
I’ve always gravitated toward places that others simply walk past. Through my repeated visits to Japan, I’ve steadily ventured beyond the tourist routes, seeking out those quiet corners that reveal a different side of the country. These images came from explorations with a camera I designed myself—created from a desire to maintain the deliberate approach of large format photography without the weight that limited my movement on foot and bicycle. This technical camera gives me precision while keeping me mobile. What draws me to Japan is how its modern efficiency coexists with its layered history. Unlike Australia, Japan carries centuries of visible past in its landscape—not just in preserved temples, but in everyday spaces allowed to weather naturally. There’s something compelling about this acceptance of impermanence, what the Japanese call utsuroi. I find myself attracted to these “ugly” areas—not truly ugly in Japan, but rather those transitional spaces where disuse allows nature to reclaim built environments. While other tourists photograph the temples that will stand for centuries, I’m documenting fleeting moments that may vanish before my next visit—places whose value comes precisely from their transience. The static nature of my setup means people rarely appear in these images, heightening their stillness. Yet human presence is never far away. I often worked under puzzled local gazes, confused questioning or just open (but friendly) laughter. These interactions remind me that beauty can be culturally relative—what appears mundane to residents becomes visually compelling through an outsider’s lens.
Derek Nguyễn
Faces Unseen:
For all that we are, we are not. Some ideas grow slowly in the mind. Stretching and warping. It grows with you. Capturing that at 24 frames per second has been my way of deciphering the world around me and the world inside of me. For all that we believe to be, all the sums of our parts, all our expressions and all our unpredictability, we so desperately want it to be true. The human condition is a hell of a ride and we’ve all got a front row seat. Interfacing with the world around us is complicated. Truth comes and goes. Truth for you and truth for me, rarely for both. I grew up watching my mother cry in the back room. A successful woman, yet her success earned her only envy, sharp words, and heavy silence. I saw loneliness. I saw my friends waiting tables with easy smiles, only to wipe away easier tears in the back alley. A half-smoked cigarette; stained hands tremble. I heard hardship in the ash. My nanna shells peanuts in the weak breeze of a tropical summer. Her calloused thumbs work with hypnotic precision. The peace on her face was not joy, but I found joy in it. I saw friends climb mango trees. Cicadas buzz, kids laugh, bags stuffed with mangoes, I can remember the smell and the heat and the simplicity of being a kid in the summertime. I walked down cold streets where I was met by a woman selling hot tea. She was old, and the teapot seemed heavy. Her mouth was covered with a scarf as she told me how the ‘tea money’ put her kid through school. I could see her smile peaking through the knit. I took a sip of the tea and felt a bit more hopeful. Being on the road is a great place for ruminations on the human condition. How it moves and how still it can be, tiny expressions, a sin to miss. Tremendous stories and fantastic passions are carried through bodies, collecting time, telling of memories, history and hidden realities. Bear witness t the travelling man. Through my art, I have learned to marvel in the mundanity—the minutia in between the cracks is endlessly fascinating. In this series of photographs, taken across different places and times, I invite you to witness stillness in moments where no story is explicitly told. Perhaps, in these hidden faces, you might just find a reflection of yourself.
Finn Goldstraw
Catacombs
Considering himself both an artist and photographer, Finn Goldstraw lives and works in Naarm/Melbourne. Focusing primarily on conceptual and documentative photography, his practice broadly focuses on self-expression and identity. Currently his projects range from the exploration of loneliness, anxiety, and self-isolation through a street photography lense. Documenting the angst and joy of young adulthood, as well as capturing the Australian family road-trip through images taken whilst driving across the Nullarbor. Finn also creates works that explore the three-dimensionality and technical aspects of photography using collaging techniques and found objects. His series ‘Catacombs’ uses images taken in 2022 while exploring the illegal parts of the Paris catacombs. Taken with a low-resolution digital camera, this playful series pays homage to found footage horror movies such as ‘The Blair Witch’ to elicit fear and curiosity within the viewer. Finn studied at Monash University and graduated in 2023 with a Double Bachelor of Visual Arts and Arts (extended Major in Psychology). Last year he completed a Creative Residency at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Fitzroy, Naarm/Melbourne. He is currently working on completing his first photo book and continuing his studies in Psychology.
Kristy K Fox
EARTH HOUR
It is on our hands, it is in our mouths at every breath, how not to remember? Called back to nights when we were wildlife, before kindling or kine, We sit behind moonlit glass in our McMansions, cool millions at rehearsal there for our rendezvous each with his own earth hour. We are feral at heart, unhouseled creatures. Mind is the maker, mad for light, for enlightenment, this late admission of darkness the cost, and the silence on our own tongues as we count the hour down - the coin we bring, long hoarded just for this - the extended cry of our first coming to this ambulant, airy Schatzkammer and midden, our green accommodating tomb. a poem by David Malouf Kristy K Fox is a photographer from the western plains of Victoria. She lives and works on the unceded land of the Dja Dja Wurrung and the Wadawurrung people. The series Earth Hour came about as a collaboration with performance artist Olivia Davis. Davis was contemplating the intersection between climate grief, her body and her environment. Editing with this concept in mind I remembered David Malouf’s poem on the same topic called Earth Hour.
garrie maguire
Day of the Dead 2024
I have an infinity with large scale parades having grownup in Grafton with the Jacaranda Festival parade and then my entry into gay Sydney was the Mardi Gras Parade. For many years I photographed that annual event. So when I was seeking a trip to recharge after 3 years of working 7 days a week I chose a creative city with one massive parade. I arrived with a couple of days to get over the jetlag before the ‘James Bond Day of the Dead Parade’ as it is known in Mexico City. These images were made as Claudio took and guided me around his city. The artist has a background in photography, graphic design, theology and gender studies. He is particularly interested in the cultural formation of masculinity within its own right and his project usually address aspects of this. In this project is a deep dive to gain some understanding of masculinity within Latin America.