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2009 Photographic Commissions
Photographs by Max Pam and Simon Westlake
In March 2010 the City of Perth launched the inaugural Photographic Commissions in the Council House Foyer featuring the work of Max Pam and Simon Westlake.
Max Pam: 2009 Artistic Photographic Commission
Max Pam was invited to undertake the 2009 Artistic Photographic Commission which endeavours to portray the city’s development, ambience, activities and social life. Pam offered the audience an insight into dynamic and alternative characteristics of Perth capturing people and places in a short moment of their being.
While Pam admitted taking photographs of the Perth CBD was not as easy as in some of the exotic locations he has visited in his 30 year career, he was surprised by what he found when he started exploring the his own city. “It is an interesting and different city experience to what I know of the east coast. I grew up in Melbourne, I've lived in Sydney and my wife is from Brisbane.” The results of Pam’s study are revelatory with the artist aspiring to tell people something they might not already know about Perth. Max Pam comments "Photography at its best is a time machine and it really does nail down a particular epoch for posterity."
Max Pam Big white wheel 2009 Photograph, 66.5 x 86.5cm
City of Perth Art Collection
Simon Westlake: 2009 Architectural Photographic Commission
Simon Westlake was invited to undertake the 2009 Architectural Photographic Commission documenting the changing built environment of Perth. Westlake captured the physical elements of our city in a state of change. The images depict various eras of architecture surrounded by the evidence of construction that was a feature of Perth at the height of the boom and beyond.
Simon Westlake has been awarded the Western Australian Professional Photographer of the Year a record four times between 1991 and 2007. He turned his attention to architectural photography and documented major developments taking place in Perth in 2009. Westlake’s photographic series documents a city under construction where steel meets sky and the horizon are punctuated by cranes.
Simon Westlake Untitled 2009 Photograph, 80.5 x 96cm
City of Perth Art Collection
Download and view the exhibition catalogue.
For more information about the commissions please contact Isobel Wise, Art Curator, City of Perth Art Collection on 9461 3209 or email isobel.wise@cityofperth.wa.gov.au