Heidi

Hooray! I have a new exhibition that starts this Friday, October 21. It’s called The Art of Ageing and it’s going to be at the Sydney Town Hall until Sunday.

The exhibition is the result of a commission I received this year by the Department of Family and Community Services to capture older people in a way that is more positive and varied than typical images portray them.

It was an interesting project for all sorts of reasons. I travelled all around Sydney to photograph a wide range of cultural backgrounds, which I always love. Some of the shoots were challenging because of people’s physical limitations. And it was interesting personally because recently I’ve become a little obsessed with trying to understand ageing. I find myself asking random people over the age of 60, how does it feel to be older? Not as in aches and pains, but do you feel massively different to who you were 20 years ago or are you essentially the same – except for more wrinkles and grey hair?

After doing this project, I’ve ended up with more questions. Like, why is Western society so obsessed with youth? And why does the human body degrade so much while the brain often stays relatively young?

Anyway, after meeting and photographing some pretty inspiring people who just happen to have spent longer on the planet than others, I’ve found myself feeling more positive about ageing. Lucky because there’s not much you can do about it!

A sneak preview of a few other pics that will appear:

Simply Voices Choir

Aunty Glenda

Mahboba

Details:

The Art of Ageing exhibition; Sydney Town Hall (Lower Town Hall); Friday 21 October-Sunday 23 October: 9am-3pm; Free

The images are nice and big (1.3 metres wide) but there are only 14 so it won’t take you long to whip around. And I’d also love to hear your opinion on why the Western world is so ageist and how you personally feel about getting older. I can feel another project coming on!