ANNE ZAHALKA ‘Shot’ at the State Library of NSW 

October 18, 2024

Anne Zahalka’s work ‘The Sisters (Emily and Anne Gibson, with her son Julius’ will be featured at the State Library of NSW as part of the grand opening of the new underground Photography Gallery from 24.10.23 onwards. The major exhibition ‘Shot’ traces the photographic image in Australia through a selection of 400 photographs – many displayed for the first time – from the Library’s extraordinary collection of two million images. Nearly every photographic format and every year between 1845 and 2022 will be represented.

The exhibition features Australia’s oldest photograph, the earliest examples of colour photography, iconic works by some of our most acclaimed photographers and contemporary images and commentary by over 30 living photographers. Due to the delicate nature of numerous works, this may be the first and only time to see some of these rare images of Australia’s pictorial history on display.

Anne’s work is from the 1988 series ‘Resemblance II’. The artist says: “These photographs continue to enquire into the canons of portraiture via the established 17th century aesthetic conventions. They are staged this time in an Australian context and within the individuals home rather than a studio. There is a sense of recognition through our  culturally engrained visual memory, even though an obvious geographical and historical shift has occurred: past/ present, north/south.”

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Image caption: Anne Zahalka, ‘The Sisters (Emily and Anne Gibson, with her son Julius’, 1988, Cibachrome photograph, 50 x 50cm