The ‘Picturing Footscray Photography Prize’ has celebrated Melbourne’s unique inner-west suburb of Footscray since 2016, documenting a period of significant change. In 2020, with the backdrop of home-isolation and a global pandemic, ‘Picturing Footscray’ goes virtual.
The photographs in this year’s exhibition celebrate and explore Footscray in unique ways; ranging from landscapes and portraits that are quintessentially “Footscray” to creative interpretations from the confines of isolation, ‘Picturing Footscray 2020’ documents a moment in time that juxtaposes the vibrancy of this inner west suburb with the loneliness of a pandemic.
Winner 2020 Picturing Footscray Photography Prize: Ben Dowling, Paisley Street
From this mix of 150 works, Ben Dowling’s black and white photograph of an encounter in Paisley Street has won the fifth annual Picturing Footscray Photography Prize.
Judges Cameron Cope and Megan Evans observed that the photograph raised more questions than answers: ‘Is it blackface or a beauty treatment we see on the window of the salon? Is the mother in the scene pondering that same question while her child ponders the photographer? It’s a puzzle that sparks the imagination and speaks both to the global Black Lives Matter movement and the cultural juxtapositions of everyday, local Footscray,’ said Cope.
Evans described the work as sophisticated in its composition with a clear directional gaze that draws attention to the sadly ongoing issues of race and racism: ‘It talks of the painful experience of black bodies who are mocked by the act of ‘blackface’ which is done with racist overtones.’
Footscray local Jody Haines was awarded second prize for her powerful self-portrait that explores the effect of isolation on the creative community: ‘It is a strong and defiant response to the virus. The look is direct and engaging and doesn’t allow the viewer to look away,’ said Evans.
The third prize-winning photograph makes the viewer do a double-take. It depicts a group who support Antifa – a powerful ideology that resists fascism and racism through the iconography of their nemesis. Narinda Cook captured the scene in her backyard, which, for Evans, embodied ‘a spirit of resistance that is associated with Footscray’.
The Student Prize was won by Photography Studies college student and local resident Becky Blechynden, who highlights the quiet streets of Footscray in her photograph Waiting Welcome.
View all 150 photographs in the online exhibition until Friday 11 September.
Visitors can also vote for their favourite photograph for the People’s Choice Award, with the winner taking home $500.
