Donna Bailey
“My background as a photographer and artist is based in the area of representation of the young subject. However, rather than my images being specifically about childhood and adolescence, as is usually the norm within this genre of photography, I tend towards photographing the condition of my relationships with the subjects of my photographs. My work with my daughter Zoë and her friends between 1998 and 2003 contributed significantly to the area of maternal photography in Australia. My most recent work looks at representations of the boy on the cusp of childhood and adolescence”.
(Donna Bailey 2006)
The maternal relation in photography, Bailey’s own role as mother/artist and the history and traditions of the family photograph were themes explored in her Master of Visual Arts thesis, with the the multi-layered and performative relationships that exist between photographer, subject and place examined in her postdoctoral work.
