© National Portrait Gallery 2025
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Jerrems photographed many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives and activists and was thought to be working on a book focusing on First Nations subjects before she passed away. This project, which only reached early planning stages, was encouraged by poet and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal, whose portrait Jerrems made for A book about Australian women.
As Arrernte writer Celeste Liddle notes, ‘Carol Jerrems captured a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander figures and activists, together with our allies, in ways we have not typically seen. Many times, the portraits appear candid, relaxed, joyful and playful, yet nearly every person Jerrems photographed was, in some way, shape or form, engaging in acts of resistance.’
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981.
© 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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