Alasdair Foster, is an international curator, art consultant, former director Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney & current Asia Pacific Photoforum ambassador. Alasdair is a regular keynote speaker, portfolio reviewer at Festivals around the world, he writes for international publications on trends in cultural development. He has curated internationally acclaimed photography exhibitions in Festivals all over the world. He is based in Sydney.
This presentation is called 'Disquietude; Landscape and the Australian Imagination'.
Many Australians have an edgy relationship to the land, with two-thirds of the population living in the seven largest cities, all situated by the sea. The continental centre is vast and harsh. It is perhaps because of this disquietude that, while Australia has some of the most dramatic scenery on the planet, landscape is rarely the subject of art photography. At least not directly…
This presentation begins by looking at the few successful contemporary Australian art photographers of the natural landscape before moving into the bustling cities to experience an urban splendour and suburban domesticity that prove nonetheless to be tinged with unease.
Against this background of a troubling reality, the presentation will go on to explore a growing interest among art photographers in annexing landscape to the realm of fantasy and creating whole new worlds of the imagination. The presentation will close by considering ‘the most popular landscape photograph in Australia’ … with revealing results.
Thanks to the Australian High Commission, Wellington.
Presented by:
