Parlour is delighted to announce ‘Portraits of Practice: At work in architecture’, an exhibition at the Tin Sheds Gallery in Sydney, 10 July – 11 September 2015.
Photograph Nick Bassett.
Portraits of Practice: At Work in Architecture will see our research come to life through two photographic series, which differently document architects and architectural workplaces.
The main series of photographs, each taken in one of three large architecture offices in Sydney across a single day in 2012, includes more than two hundred images capturing the people and culture of these workplaces. Portraits of Practice documents the atmosphere, ethos, and material culture of these offices and the individuals who work there. The images portray the minutiae of an ordinary day in the life of a (woman) architect, presenting a “visual archealogy of a particular architectural socio-culture at one historic moment” while also “increasing the visibility of women architects and their achievements within architecture.”
A second collection of portrait photographs – Documentation: The Visual Sociology of Architects, was also taken at a particular historic moment, over the course of the Australian Institute of Architects National Conference in 2010. This was an earlier collaboration between Naomi Stead, Kate Sweetapple (UTS) and Sandra Kaji-O’Grady.
As a snapshot of attendees at a major event on the annual architectural calendar, it reveals the diversity of age, gender and ethnicity already present within the architectural community. Examining the visual markers of professional and personal identity in architecture, the series questions stereotypes about what an architect looks like.
These photographic series are juxtaposed with a series of infographics, and quotations from participants in our wider research. These provide a compelling counterpoint to the celebratory narrative of the photographs, providing a powerful reminder of the challenges faced by, and under-representation of, women in Australian architecture.
The exhibition will be accompanied with a series of talks, events – we’ll keep you posted about these.
Exhibition dates: 10 July – 11 September 2015
Opening: 6–8 pm, 10 July
Portraits of Practice is curated and designed by Naomi Stead, Maryam Gusheh, Justine Clark, Fiona Young and Gill Matthewson. Typography and infographics are by Catherine Griffiths. Photography is by Nick Bassett, shot on location at Bates Smart, BVN and PTW in Sydney.
The exhibition is supported by the Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, and by ATCH, University of Queensland.
Photograph: Nick Bassett.
