All four portraits come from the Australian National Archive in Brisbane. The photographs were taken for applications of exemption to the dictation test, a function of the White Australia Policy.

For this iteration of the Aussie series I wanted to emphasise the contemporary nature of the project, hence the colour palette and other stylistic choices.

As always, my intention with the Aussie series is to give people on the street an opportunity to meet the people in the posters as equals. To this aim, I like to provoke curiosity by maintaining the mystery of the images, allowing the beauty, personality and charisma of the photograph to speak for itself. I tend not to think about politics when choosing photos from the archive. It’s politics that put them in the archive, so let beauty bring them out.

Support the project

To support the project please order a poster. All the posters you see on the street are stuck up by me personally and I intend to continue that way indefinitely.