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Merely a year after it was made, Jerrems’ now iconic photograph Vale Street was already in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales and had been included in the survey publication, Australian Photography, edited by Laurence Le Guay. In Juliet holding Vale Street, actor Juliet Bacskai, Jerrems’ friend from Prahran Technical College, holds the newly famous photograph, perhaps in an attempt to reclaim the image as it is propelled into a realm of fame and recognition beyond the maker’s control. Leaves wreathe the top corners of the photograph in a way that is reminiscent of Vale Street itself, echoing both its composition and its sensibility. Here, another self-possessed woman is spotlit against darkness and stands with surety and purpose.
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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