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2012 Photographic Commissions
The Middle Kingdom by Juha Tolonen
Floreat 2012 by Toni Wilkinson
EXHIBITIONCITY OF PERTH - 2012 PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMISSIONS Where: Council House Foyer, 27 St Georges Terrace Perth |
The City of Perth has commissioned two prominent Western Australian photographers to complete the second City of Perth Photographic Commissions. Established in 2009, the commissions invite professionally renowned photographers to capture the essence of our city at a particular moment in time.
Photographers Juha Tolonen and Toni Wilkinson have created works that speak of the city in the here and now. The images hint at the unique elements and subcultures of Perth while identifying people and places as part of a broader global picture. While Tolonen’s images are devoid of people and Wilkinson’s are social portraits, both bodies of work have a strong human presence. Tolonen shows architecture from the point of view of those who inhabit it while Wilkinson introduces the viewer to the dynamic people who shape Perth’s community.
The Middle Kingdom by Juha Tolonen
Western Australian landscape photographer Juha Tolonen was invited to participate in the second City of Perth Architectural Photographic Commission. Tolonen has captured the architecture of Perth from the point of view of ‘middle management’, the office worker who does not have sweeping river views, maybe a glimpse of water between buildings. He has stepped away from the classic depictions of Perth city; the views of our skyline across the Swan River framed by vast blue skies. Instead Tolonen offers the City an opportunity to connect with a more personal vision of Perth’s architecture by photographing our buildings from within. He intentionally photographed on cloudy days to create a soft backdrop allowing the buildings to pop, placing the viewer in a position to consider the landscape our society has shaped.
Juha Tolonen All ordinaries/Level 13 2012, Photograph
City of Perth Art Collection
Floreat 2012 by Toni Wilkinson
Western Australian photographer Toni Wilkinson was invited to participate in the second City of Perth Artistic Photographic Commission. Wilkinson has depicted the diversity of expression in our city streets. Her subjects are chosen by instinct, there are no caricatures. Each photo captures a sense of pride, integrity and candour. Wilkinson’s series Floreat 2012 shows a thriving youthful city through its people. We may pass them in the streets of Perth as they blend into the mass of human activity yet when captured through Wilkinson’s lens the viewer is allowed to inspect them more closely. The awareness and complicity of her subjects debunks a potential sense of voyeurism; we explore their uniqueness, their hairstyle, their clothing, their stance, their message; they are both a product of their society and the people who are shaping it.
Toni Wilkinson Fashionista 2012, Photograph
City of Perth Art Collection
For more information about the commissions please contact Isobel Wise, Art Curator for the City of Perth on 9461 3209 or email isobel.wise@cityofperth.wa.gov.au
