Aussie Up: Anne Zahalka

The other day I was in Cellar Stories (great bookshop - nice one Providence!) and found an issue of the New York-based Big Magazine from 2002 devoted to Australian art, mostly photography. Included were several bodies of work by photographers with whom I wasn't familiar. I wondered: were these great series one-hit wonders? Have the artists moved into other media? Are they too underground for me? Not exactly. I did a bit of Googling, and a lot of them have, it seems, since given up or de-emphasised art practice and are now working in the commercial world, either in Australia or the US or the UK.

I often struggle to find photographers working in Australia whose work I enjoy. This may have something to do with the tendency to leave the country and pursue other options overseas, or the extent to which commercial work ends up attracting and holding talented young photographers, or the fact that most galleries in Sydney and Melbourne are relatively unenthusiastic about representing artists working only with photography. In any case, given the quality of art education and photographic education in Australia, and the vibrancy of the emerging arts scene in our big cities, we produce a surprisingly small number of accomplished photographic artists.

This week, one last time, I thought I would show you the work of some contemporary Australian photographers.

Firstly, Anne Zahalka (b. 1957), who has been prolific since the 1980s. These are from her series Leisureland (1998-2001), which show on a grand scale the Australian tendency to recreate.

Anne Zahalka, Cole Classic, 1998

Anne Zahalka, Wood Chopping Stadium, 1999

Anne Zahalka, Star City Casino (after Breugel), 1999

Anne Zahalka, Model Railway Club, 1998

For what it's worth I think this body of work is far stronger than the British photographer Simon Roberts' recent book We English, which explores similar themes.

Check out more of Anne Zahalka's work on her website.