© National Portrait Gallery 2025
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Linda Piper, an actor who appeared in Jerrems’ short film Hanging about (1978), holds a conceptual sculpture by Aleks Danko; a light globe mounted on a block stencilled with the words ‘A GOOD IDEA’. In this portrait, used on the cover of A book about Australian women, Piper engages easily with the photographer, relaxed in her stance, smiling and glancing beguilingly out of frame. The photograph on the back cover presents an abrupt contrast. Piper is still holding the sculpture but this time the globe is illuminated, casting her features in light from below. She does not smile, instead, her shadow looms behind her as she fixes a severe gaze towards the camera. This ominous ending to the book hints at the fact that, while the light might be on, women in Australia were not set for an uncomplicated future.
National Library of Australia
© The Estate of Carol Jerrems
Carol Jerrems: Portraits is a major exhibition of one of Australia’s most influential photographers. Jerrems’ intimate portraits of friends, lovers and artistic peers transcend the purely personal and have come to shape Australian visual culture.
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