Based in Borroloola, 1,000 kilometres southeast of Darwin, Yanyuwa Garrwa artist Miriam Charlie captures community life on her polaroid camera.
Miriam Charlie, Getting to Borroloola, 2022, polaroid photo with handwritten notes. Courtesy the artist and N.Smith Gallery, Sydney
For her exhibition Getting to Borroloola, Charlie documents her return to Country after isolating while recovering from COVID-19. The instantaneity of the Polaroid process gives the artist agency over her image-making as she travels back to her NT hometown. The photographs depict both intimate, off-hand familial moments and the vast expanse of the landscape, as witnessed during her journey.
“These photos capture me getting back to my Country after time spent in Covid isolation. I wanted to document how it felt being free again – and reconnecting with my family and Country” – Miriam Charlie.
Beyond the image, each polaroid is an individual object – not to be replicated but original and unique with Miriam’s handwritten notes. This low-fi technology removes the need for bulky equipment and editing; instead, the artworks are entirely the moment, distinctively evocative of place, Country, and time.
Centre for Contemporary Photography
27 January to 9 April 2023
Melbourne
