Scout Finch

Since marrying my photography-obsessed husband, my life has become centred around images.

He’s always walking around with a camera. When we first started dating, I used to get really impatient having to wait for him to make sure the frame was just right or having to pull over the side of the road because he saw a light beam come through the clouds on to the mountains.

Before meeting him, I was a ‘in-the-moment’ kind of gal. I had two albums of photos for my life and that included time when I lived in England and travelled around the Philippines and Italy. That was until Ed came along.

Now our house is surrounded by images – taken by him, his dad (who began the photography obsession in the family) or other professional photographers.

And my life is the richer for it. I have beautiful photos of my niece smiling her head off because she has a new pair of sparkly shoes. I have photos with my brother and grandfather, a month before he sadly passed away. I have photos of our holidays that could make beautiful postcards and always make me flashback to our past travels.

It’s with this new-found love of photos that my ears picked up when I heard about a new exhibit at the Queensland Art Gallery. It opened earlier this month and runs until October.

Max Dupain Sunbaker 1937 Gelatin silver photograph. Purchased 1976 Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales

It’s a photography exhibition that highlights the history of Australia. ‘The Photograph and Australia’ exhibition is the largest of it’s type since 1988.

The Brisbane-based gallery is also the only venue to host the exhibition outside of NSW.

Unknown Queensland natives c.1890s Albumen photograph on paper Purchased 2003 Queensland Art Gallery FoundationCollection: Queensland Art Gallery

The Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Deputy Director, Collection and Exhibitions Maud Page said the exhibition was a rare opportunity to see photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries, displayed in an art gallery setting.

“The Photograph and Australia represents the latest thinking on photography and its connection to people, place, culture, and history. It explores how photography played a crucial role in the development of our understanding of Australia as a place and Australians as a people,” Ms Page said.

Olive Cotton. Only to taste the warmth, the light, the wind c. 1939 Purchased with funds provided by John Armati 2006 Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales

‘Drawn from more than 35 private and public collection across Australia, England and New Zealand, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Queensland Museum and our very own, the exhibition features over 600 works by more than 120 artists from two centuries, including Queenslander Tracey Moffatt and others.”

Other photographers include, Richard Daintree, Charles Bayliss, Harold Cazneaux, Olive Cotton, Max Dupain, David Moore, Carol Jerrems, Robyn Stacey, Sue Ford, Ricky Maynard, Anne Ferran and Mervyn Bishop.

It’s a rather haunting exhibition, which isn’t shy of showcasing Australia’s past while bringing new light to rural landscapes of this sunburnt country.

Paul Foelsche,Adelaide River1887 Albumen photograph. Gift of Josef & Jeanne Lebovic, Sydney 2014 Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales

As we become more and more image saturated, it’s actually quite blissful to be transported back to a time when a photo was a luxury for future generations to marvel over.

I just wonder what future generations will think in 50 years time when they go to a gallery full of photos of Kim Kardashian’s bum or my dog wearing a bandanna and sunnies…

Tickets for ‘The Photograph and Australia’ are on sale now and available via www.qagoma.qld.gov.au. Adults $12, Concession $10 and Members $9. Bookings fees apply to all tickets booked in advance.