Mt. ROKKO International Photo Festival

Produced by the Australian Museum of Contemporary Photography, ‘Instincts‘ presents a spectrum of practical and conceptual approaches that inquire into the complexity of Australia’s identity. The exhibition includes work by six photographers who work and live on the Australian continent. The artists Gilbert Bel-Bachir, Phil Bayly, Phillip George, Graham Miller, Polixeni Papapetrou and William Yang offer imaginative interpretations of the Australian condition, from the unique nature of southern landscapes to the peculiar narrative resonance that emerges from a land so steeped in symbolism and stories. Throughout ‘Instincts’ an uncanny poetry emerges, borne from a continent which can at once be characterized by isolation and an unusual interpenetration of diverse cultures. In their very heterogeneity, these works present the uniqueness of Australian photography and ask the question; Is there a certain visual matrix that we share or is it something to do with the colonized territory we occupy? Each of the photographers has a personal and a highly developed style and subject matter which ranges from abstraction to formal portraiture all embracing a visual instinct which conveys knowledge with lucidity.