KATRIN KOENNING | From A Changed North

German-born photographer Katrin Koenning currently lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Much of her work investigates the ordinary and everyday. Her upcoming exhibition at MiCK will feature a body of work titled From A Changed North.

This series of work centres around the changing face of Germany’s formerly industrial Ruhrgebiet, which is her place of birth and estranged home of many years. The nations economic strength is far from visible here with it’s rotting bill boards, neglected playgrounds, derelict houses and shut-down kiosks. Katrin documents the effects of shifting identities – from industrialism to modern technology which has left the city’s vast ageing population behind, and the post industrial growth has left the regional cities in decline.

Katrin’s images have been shown at international festivals such as Noorderlicht, Delhi Photo Fest, FORMAT International Photography Festival, Voies Off/Arles Festival and the Gijon International Photojournalism Festival. She has also exhibited widely and has been published in The Guardian, The International Herald Tribune (NYT), Der Spiegel Magazine, Marie Claire Magazine, Time Machine & has won a number of awards including the Troika Editions Format Exposure Prize, a National Geographic Award, the APJ Award for Best Documentary Photography. In 2011, Katrin was selected as Australia’s Top Emerging Documentary Photographer and won the 2011 HeadOn Portrait Prize Critic’s Choice award. Near, her long-term project documenting her family, has been selected for Hijacked v.3: AUS / UK.

HUGH STEWART | The Still Life

Hugh Stewart grew up on a farm in New Zealand, the eldest of 7 children.  He headed Europe after school and first picked up his camera whilst residing in one of London’s notorious squats in the 80’s.  Hugh started photographing portraits of his friends which lead to his development as a now internationally established photographer who has made a name for himself through out the US and Australia.

Some of the iconic images of our times have been created through his camera, such as the shot of Nicole Kidman for Chanel No. 5 with the necklace dangling down her back and portraits for Baz Luhrmann including those for his recent film, The Great Gatsby.

Hugh Stewart’s images have featured in I-D, The Face, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone Magazine.  He has photographed, amongst others, Johnny Cash, Michael Caine, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Kenneth Branagh, Naomi Watts, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Catherine Deneuve, Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, Geoffery Rush and Cate Blanchett. His photographs have been hung in the National Portrait Gallery in London and in Canberra.

Having lived overseas for the majority of the past 30 years, Hugh now resides in Australia and is focusing on his artistic photography.  In his upcoming exhibition at MiCK, Hugh’s work will focus on still life images inspired by his connection with the delicacy and beauty of nature and it’s relationship to both domestic and industrial environments.