We are in conversation with Lisa Garland, a photographic artist who has been documenting her community on the North-West Coast for more than 20 years. Lisa makes portraits of people so deeply connected to where they live that often the portrait of their place tells more about them than the people themselves. As a new generation is emerging and another passing, Lisa reflects on what she looks for in her subjects and how her focus is changing.
In this episode we cover:
how Lisa’s photographic portraits of people and places are influenced by her upbringing and community,
how Lisa’s early career as a newspaper photographer made her value her own personal projects, particularly portraits of her family and community members,
documenting generational changes occuring in Lutruwita | Tasmania, particularly during residencies in Queenstown and King Island,
how the intimate relationship between artist and subject comes through in her images and the extent the stories shared are conveyed through image and text,
the changes in Tasmania's cultural and physical landscapes and the loss of traditional craftsmanship,
her shift from portraiture to photographing symbolic spaces, and
the value of storytelling and the significance of preserving the authenticity of her subjects and their environments.
