Genevieve Grieves
Genevieve Grieves Picturing the old people 2005, Art Gallery of New South Wales © Genevieve Grieves
Picturing the old people 2005
In Picturing the old people Genevieve Greives brings historical photographs to life. People move in and out of frame, children laugh, men straighten their backs to stand proud, a woman dances with the photographer. The work alludes to the complex moments that surround the taking of a photograph. It also asserts the agency of those subjects, our ancestors, who are captured in historical images that ‘float’ in institutional archives, often unnamed and disconnected from family.
Grieves examines the ways photography has been used to establish and perpetuate stereotypes of Aboriginal men as ‘warriors’, women as objects of desire and children as abandoned and neglected. She has commented: ‘That style of colonial photography, of people only as pre-contact, was denying Aboriginal people a role in the new world of Australia … but they captured all of this other stuff that they probably didn’t mean to, including emotion and lived experience.’
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K–6 discussion questions
Study the video installation. Who are the people and what are they doing? When do you think they were filmed? Explain your answer using information from the artwork.
Choose one character and describe their facial expression, body language, costume and movements. How do you think the other people feel about them? Take turns to play different roles in this scene and ad-lib dialogue to bring the characters to life.
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K–6 activities
Stage a photo shoot. Set up a backdrop and choose costumes and props to create your desired scene. Act the roles of the subject and the photographer. Improvise dialogue between these people which leads to taking each photograph. Who is in control of how the photograph looks? Is it the photographer or the subject? Discuss how it feels to be the subject, being directed and told what to do, and to be the photographer, directing everyone.
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7–12 discussion questions
Analyse the narratives portrayed on each channel of Picturing the old people in terms of mood, posture, lighting and composition. Select one channel and describe the key events, characters and scenarios. Decide which of the themes ‘desire’, ‘warriors’, ‘mourning’, ‘family’ and ‘lost children’ is represented and explain your answer.
Discuss reasons why the artist focused on these ideas in this work. Identify the relationships of power between the participants represented. Consider factors of race, gender and class.
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7–12 activities
Picturing the old people is based on archival research. Grieves has observed that ‘[colonial photographers] had an idea about capturing the “noble savage”, but they captured all this other stuff that they probably didn’t mean to, including emotion and lived experience’. Consider and discuss how this artwork responds to and reveals hidden dimensions of history. Create a portrait of someone you know well. Think of ways this drawing, painting or photograph can reveal information about this person which isn’t usually evident.