Five Vignettes is an exhibition presenting five different views of the human existence within Australia.

The photographers are interested in the play of the people, in both the socio economic environment and the landscape that we see through our open eyes and feel beneath our feet.
Their views are snapped from the spectrum of light to dark.
They are cynics yet sensitive, blinded by beauty, and engaged by injustice.
As Australians, the photographers are communicating the state of who we are, or who we might have been. This is a study of the human condition as molded by the same dirt that dusts our diverse paths, to the beer that flags our next stop.

This exhibition is (in simple words) an interpretation of Australia as seen through five visual vignettes from five different social documentarians, Marco Bok, Dean Dampney, Tamara Dean, Dean Sewell and Lisa Wiltse.

Each of these photographers have high accolades to their name, from the World Press Awards to the Walkley Awards for Photojournalism, from solo to group exhibitions, they are fast establishing their names in the world of Photography.

MARCO BOK

Marco Bok is seldom without a camera and photographs anything that ‘strikes’ him in his daily life. He has a vast collection of personal images documenting street life in inner city Sydney, Sydney city and Bondi Beach, his family, friends, lovers and most recently his dogs. Marco grew up in the river town Echuca as the first Australian born member of a family that migrated to Australia from Holland in the late 1950s. He has a degree majoring in sociology from the Australian National University and graduated from Sydney College of the Arts in 1989 with a BA in visual arts majoring in photo media.
Since then he has worked as a professional photographer and photo media teacher.
He has been published in a variety of books, magazines and papers.

DEAN DAMPNEY

Dean Dampney's photography captures the human spirit with a fundamental essence of innocence, freedom and joy. In his last two exhibitions, 'InGoesWaterBoy' (Blender Gallery, Paddington, 2003) and 'Days Down Here' (Blender Gallery, Paddington, 2004) Dampney depicts Australian's at their most free. Children and adults alike are cast with a searing honest light, appearing both at peace and at one with their iconic Australian surrounds.
It is in his subtlety, and finesse in staging human expression, combined with a contemporary artistic aesthetic, that has earnt Dampney the media's label of "The Next Dupain" (Robert McFarlane, SMH, July 2003).
His work has been acquired by collectors internationally, and on a commercial level, graced numerous magazine and advertising campaigns both home and abroad.

Dampney’s selection of shots reflects the Australia that beholds both his spirit and experience.
“It is a place of vast beauty and wonderlands where us white kids have learnt to assimilate on occasion, and embrace the rewards of raw and unpolluted nature.”
These are scenes of white Australia without prejudice, and times where the smear of red earth on bare feet is as broad as the smiles on bearded faces. The bond of the ocean, for both the pleasure it gives for the surfers and the fish they catch from it to eat, ties these Australians to the periphery of this island nation. It is with this that the complexities of demographic and economic rationalism are abandoned from the cities and towns, and nothing less than simple living overrides.
Simply, it in these captured moments that Dampney finds his true country as it provides the most uncompromising happiness.

Tamara Dean

Tamara Dean grew up in Sydney and studied photography at the College of Fine Arts before graduating from the University of Western Sydney with a BA in Design.
Dean currently resides in Sydney working as a staff photographer on the Sydney Morning Herald.
In 2002 Dean was accepted into 'Oculi', a photo agency formed in 2001 by 9 photographers "devoted to illuminating the real lives and stories often overlooked by mainstream media".
Dean's personal works delve into Australian subcultures and social issues.
Her works have been exhibited at leading Australian galleries including the Australian Centre For Photography (ACP), the Art Gallery of NSW, Stills South Gallery, Byron Mapp Gallery, Customs House, Photo Technica Gallery and Blender Gallery.
Dean's works are held in collections of the ACP, the State Library of New South Wales, the Fuji ACMP Australian Photographers Collection 9, AMP (City of Sydney 'Art and About') and private collections.
In 2005, Dean was awarded an “Artist Residency” by Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in the remote historical gold-mining village of Hill End in NSW, Australia

Dean’s selection off images is from a series title 'Friends'. This is an ongoing long-term project closely following the lives of her friends. It bares witness to their relationships, life experiences and intimate moments showing the way their lives unfold over time. These are people living in Australia who choose to live outside of mainstream culture.
This is a personal window into their lives, their lifestyles and the places they spend time.

DEAN SEWELL

Born in 1971 Dean Sewell grew up in Sydney where he began his career working as a news photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald.
In 2005 Sewell was awarded 1st Prize, Spot News Stories category of the World Press Photo Awards for his work on the Tsunami aftermath in Aceh, Indonesia. In 2002 and 2000 Sewell won World Press Photo awards for his work on the Australian Bushfires and East Timor respectively.
His series on "The Block" in Aboriginal Redfern and coverage of the Sydney Bushfire Crisis of 2001 were showcased at the prestigious Visa Pour L'Image Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan, France.
In 2004, 2003, 2001 and 2000 Sewell's work was screened at "Reportage"- Australia's Leading Festival of Photojournalism.
Sewell was awarded Australian Press Photographer of the Year in 1998 and 1994.
Sewell’s work is regularly exhibited in leading Australian and International Galleries and his works are held in private collections.
In 2005, Sewell was awarded an “Artist Residency” by Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in the remote historical gold-mining village of Hill End in NSW, Australia

LISA WILTSE

Having recently relocated to Sydney from the US, Lisa Wiltse has automatically taken an active role within the photographic industry.
Wiltse has had exhibitions throughout the US as well as being published in numerous publications.
Her projects have included “Doctors Without borders Havana, Cuba”, Documenting Cubans living in a Sanatorium with the HIV virus, working in Uganda, a 6,000 mile photographic journey through India aboard an Enfield Bullet along with a six week assignment photographing the development of a local non-profit organization for orphaned children and Mothers' with Aids.
Lisa Wiltse is currently a photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald.