UWA’s Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery opened an exhibition todayshowcasing 15 years of work from Perth photographer Kevin Ballantine.
Inspired by the great urban photographers of post-war New York and Paris, Ballantine resolved to do the same for Perth.
His works ranging from 1986 to 2001 captured the urban landscapes of Perth and Fremantle, an outback road trip down the Great Eastern Highway, and exuberant scenes from Cottesloe beach.
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READ NOWIt includes an important series from 1986-87 featuring the streets of Fremantle during the America’s Cup.
Reminiscent of the works of Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, and perhaps even the great master Todd Webb, Ballantine’s photography renders the (often-subtle) beauty and starkness of every day moments and things.
Purchasing his first camera in London in 1975, Ballantine documented the streets around his home in Fulham.
Influenced by the work of contemporary street photographers of the 1970s and with a camera in hand, he subsequently captured Perth in the late 1970s in a unique way.
The result was “an extraordinary body of work, documenting the changing face of the city and conveying with acuity and sensitivity something of what it is to be in this place, both banal and spectacularly beautiful”.
Kevin Ballantine: Photographs 1986-2001 presents a survey of 15 years of Ballantine’s practice, Lawrence Wilson Gallery, 35 Stirling Highway Nedlands.
It runs from Tuesday May 30 until Tuesday Aug 8, open from 11am until 5pm.
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