Photography Redfern Proof: Exhibition as Medium

When photographs documenting activism are exhibited in a national portrait gallery, they test the efficacy of an exhibition to override the subjectivities of the "museum effect" and to engage the viewer to think about broader sociocultural debates. This study closely examines a thirty-year trajectory from activism for self-determination, photographic representation to exhibition, in order to show how personal and political insights can inform visual practice. The analysis is framed by reference to recent locational studies and media representations of Redfern, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, long identified with Aboriginal activism. After demonstrating a tenacious reactionary bias in the mainstream media, the author concludes that hard-won cultural and visual transformations can never be taken for granted.