Cameron Clarke

I was recently commissioned to produce installation images for a wonderful project at The Abbotsford Convent. The two-part project was presented by c3 Contemporary under the direction of gallery director Jon Butt in collaboration with artist Jessica Hood. The project creates a visual archive of the ornamental gardens at the Abbotsford Convent.

In 2013 I was commissioned along with 5 other artists, working in photography through to installation, to respond to renowned Australian photographer Wolfgang Sievers (1913–2007), icon of 20th century Australian photography. 

"Wolfgang Sievers’ portraits of workers and industry resonate with me, as my own documentary practice explores the connections between people, their environment and their history.  The Sievers Project has provided me with the opportunity to revisit some of the sites where Wolfgang Sievers created his iconic imagery, and to explore the changed relationship between Australian workers and their machines. I have found this opportunity to be most engaging and, given the current climate and upheaval in the Australian manufacturing industry, particularly poignant.

 It is an interesting and challenging time for many businesses operating in the field of manufacturing. In my research and development of work for this project I have had access to several manufacturing businesses in the midst of immense change and adaptation to local and global economic forces.

 The imagery I have created for this project echo’s Sievers work in its documentation of industry. It is however a departure from Sievers’ work, in that the ‘worker’ and machine are treated as completely separate. The worker in my view is still vital to the operation of manufacturing industries, however the role of the worker has drastically changed over the past 30-40 years since Sievers created his striking imagery. In the present day of more automated processes, higher input cost demands and a truly global economy and marketplace, manufacturing industries in Australia have needed to adapt. This adaptation has in some respects led to the diminished role of people in manufacturing workplaces, and moreover and unfortunately, to many of the industries for which Wolfgang Sievers produced work, closing their doors.

 In the imagery I have created for this project, at Bruck Textiles in Wangaratta and The Ford Motor Company in Geelong, I have presented the worker and the machine separately. For me this reflects upon the change in relationship between the two, which has occurred in the decades since Sievers worked for these companies. The ‘dignity’ of the worker was fundamental to Sievers’ approach and his imagery of people intricately involved with the machine demonstrates this. I too believe in the dignity of people and the work they do and it is for this reason I have given equal standing in terms of style, composition and scale to the people and machinery in my photographs for The Sievers Project."

ReWine is a very cool little business. They sell you wine and you can return with your bottle and have it refilled. These images are of ReWine's latest venture, a brick and mortar wine bar in Brunswick East.