2009
'Hindsight' by Julie Stephenson
In this body of work I am exploring through the record of the family photograph; lineage, memory, relationships and choices. I have repositioned these family photographs into a different time and place, enabling reflection upon the consequences of these choices in Hindsight.
I have used my own family photographs in conjunction with verandah photographs I have taken whilst travelling Australia. The Australian verandah, the intermediary space between public and private, reveals fragments of who we are now. Behind the verandah, inside the front door, personal relationships and private lives both develop and decay, and the lining of the home’s interior walls is where the record of these individual experiences and decisions is displayed. I have brought these historical photographs; evidence of family experience and decisions, into a place where they can be viewed and reflected upon by placing them in view on the walls of the verandah.
The threads of differences and similarities in these activities and choices made by individuals within different eras, and the strength and fragility of family relationships is also revealed when this archive of photographs is reassembled on sheer fabric.
The family photograph album houses these memories and is a record of our lineage and choices. The artist book I have made is in the album style, and contains the images from my body of work.
Julie Stephenson
Julie Stephenson (1962) lives and works north of Brisbane, Australia. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Australia and is held in private and public collections such as the Daryl Hewson Collection and the Brisbane Girls Grammar Art Collection.
