Website | AustralianPhotographers.org

AustralianPhotographers.org is an online collection of 150 photographers and their work. It is an extensive database that provides a description of the artists’ work, 6 images and selected publications for each artist. The material for the website was collected during Anne Marsh’s extensive research project on contemporary Australian photography for which she received an Australian Research Council Grant in 2005.

It is particularly interesting in that it is a static resource which functions as a book, presented online.  As stated on the website:

This material, including photographs and texts, is drawn from a select period and thus attests to historical specificity and contexts within which this particular research project was undertaken. Much of the material about the artists’ works was collected from the artists and edited in 2006-2007 and acts as a form of historical snapshot of their creative practice at the time that the primary research was undertaken. To this end, no artist’s curriculum vitae are available through this website and nor are their current undertakings such as recent exhibitions. Where available, the artist’s URL should direct the visitor to this kind of current material.

The website is a simple and effective format for this type of online resource which is taking the print approach and is excellent for researchers, students and the public to access key material that was discovered during this research project. For the casual visitor, the home page presents a different artist each time on refresh, providing a random introduction to what may be unknown work but for the researcher or student a search box and browse by name option is provided. It is a great resource for international artists/curators to discover or gain deeper understanding to what happening in Australia.

Anne Marsh’s project produced the website and a large format book:  Look: Australian Contemporary Photography since 1980 was published by Macmillan Art Publishing and released in December 2010. It is a collection of over 400 photographs with a series of critical essays written by Anne analysing key themes and issues.