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Ann Shelton interviewed by Joy Garnett for Evergreen Review

Joy Garnett, 2020
Evergreen Review

Joy Garnett: Please give us some background about yourself and your development as a photographer: How did you come to be interested in exploring the relationship between photography and violence and the viewer in your work?

Ann Shelton: I grew up in small-town Aotearoa New Zealand, in the South Island, where the landscape is complex and profoundly beautiful. I had access to the coveted lands of the Southern Alps and Otago, which have now famously been exported to the rest of the world through digital and cinematic narratives. In contrast to this ‘blockbuster’ setting is the particular cultural context I experienced then, one that alienated young women, indigenous peoples and “Southern” or “Antipodean Gothic”, is not so much castles as car wrecks, and a wealth of bogans rather than witches. It was and is a violent, isolated, conservative place, which actively represses narratives it doesn’t wish to confront. I guess my work is all about ripping the scab off those omissions, pulling knowledge that’s just under the surface back into circulation.

Read the full interview on Evergreen Review

ann-shelton-the-red-head-toe-toe-austroderia-sp
The Redhead, Toe Toe (Austroderia sp.). From the series jane says, 2015 - ongoing. Pigment Print, 1119mm x 840mm.
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