CPA - The Guardian

I’ve been to many photographic exhibitions but none have had such a powerful and moving effect on me as this one. Daily we are subjected to images of war and conflict, on the TV, the internet and in the print media. Often they are quick, gratuitous, sometimes stomach-churning grabs – sensationalist tabloid journalism that lacks a humanitarian or critical component. Corporate media machines and military establishments today dictate so much of the reportage, but not all of it.

Re-enlistment ceremony Baghdad 2008 – 1,215 US soldiers, airmen, marines and seamen pray before they take the pledge of enlistment at a massive ceremony in Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq. © Ashley Gilbertson (for the New York Times).

The award winning photographers in this exhibition take us beyond the official presentation of events. They are professional documentary photographers whose images are penetrating journalism, an important part of the historical record of political developments and carry a strong humanitarian message.

Ben Bohane, Michael Coyne, David Dare Parker, Stephen Dupont, Sean Flynn, Ashley Gilbertson, Tim Page and Jack Picone are members of an Australian group of award-winning documentary photographers, °SOUTH (Degree South).

“At present there are 43 conflicts taking place on our planet. Once, the battlefield was the place of devastation, now it is streets, alley-ways, schools and places of worship. People and places are no longer protected or sacred and in much of the world it is now safer to be a soldier than an unarmed civilian,” says a statement by °SOUTH members.

In keeping with this statement the 73 images in the exhibition are not restricted to the battlefields of professional soldiers. They document the impact that war has on its civilian as well as military victims, how their lives are shattered by wars they did not start and over which they have no control.

These photographers put their lives on the line as they ventured into some of the most dangerous regions of the world, and through determination and immense courage have given us through their images the realities of war – the suffering and devastation, the cruelties and brutality, the crimes and politics.

The uncensored photos of Tim Page and Sean Flynn covering the Vietnam war in the 1960s -70s are a reminder of the time the media were not “embedded” and censored by the US or other military. Sean was the son of actor Errol Flynn, an outstanding documentary photographer in his own right, who disappeared while on a photographic assignment in Cambodia in 1970 – believed to be a victim of the Khmer Rouge.

The photos also cover wars and conflicts in Laos, Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Angola, East Timor, Indonesia, Bougainville, West Papua, Iraq, Palestine, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Iran, Tibet, Yugoslavia, and many other locations.

These photographers have created images that have gone on to influence public opinion, make history and inspire us to find other ways to solve our differences. The exhibition is a haunting journey through the devastation inflicted by war, a demonstration of the power of photography, and a window into otherwise censored and unreported elements of war. Above all it is a message for humanity and peace.

For those who cannot get to the exhibition in Sydney a book will be available shortly, further details will be published in The Guardian.

The exhibition is open until Saturday November 21

Australian Centre for Photography
257 Oxford St, Paddington

Tue - Fri: 12.00 - 7.00pm,
Sat & Sun 10.00am - 6.00pm

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