Director of the National Portrait Gallery Bree Pickering with co-curator Isobel Parker Philip at the launch of the Carol Jerrems exhibition at the NPG. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Some photographers are happy to catch a moment in time, others prefer to stage it to look like they have – and then you have artists like Carol Jerrems.
Despite her short life, Jerrems managed to document an Australian sub-culture like few other photographers. Her friends, strangers – and even herself were her subjects, each telling a story that rarely needed words.
A comprehensive exhibition of Jerrems’ work has just opened at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in Canberra, showcasing images from the NPG as well as the National Gallery of Australia and the National Library of Australia.
It features more than 140 photographs by the Australian photographer and coincides with the 50th anniversary of her landmark publication, A book about Australian women. The portraits include Dr Anne Summers, Dr Roberta Sykes, Evonne Goolagong and Linda Jackson. It also features stars from Australia’s pop music heyday, including Red Symons, Ross Wilson and Shirley Strachan.
Born in Melbourne in 1949, Jerrems was one of the first photography students to graduate from Prahran Technical College. In 1971, several works from her student portfolio were acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria for its new photography collection. A book about Australian women followed in 1974, a collaborative project with writer Virginia Fraser.
Jerrems had already built a name for herself with her gritty, real-life images, but this rise to prominence was cemented in 1975 with the showing of her most famous work, Vale Street.
A portrait of relationships, the image has been described as delving into the soul of its three subjects. It was also known as the most expensive photograph sold in this country when Sotheby’s auctioned it in 2019 for more than $100,000. The photograph was sold again in 2023 for over $170,000.
Co-curator Isobel Parker Philip said the exhibition showed the “work of an artist who had a distinct vision from the very start of her career.
“She saw portraiture as not just reproducing likeness, but a way of cultivating stories. She had this gift of taking photographs that didn’t need words.”
While most artistic careers last decades, Jerrems’ was cut short, dying at age 30 from a rare liver condition.
Vale Street, 1975, Carol Jerrems’ iconic work is on show at the new exhibition. National Gallery of Australia © The Estate of Carol Jerrems. Photos: National Portrait Gallery.
Although her work has been celebrated widely, the NPG exhibition is the first to draw attention to the specific nature of portraiture in her practice.
“But you can see from the outset the clarity she had in her work and the fact she never deviated from it,” Ms Parker Philip said.
A rare look into a photographer’s work – the proof sheet Carol Jerrems did for her iconic Vale Street image.
Director of the NPG, Bree Pickering, said: “Jerrems’ work is a defining artistic achievement of the late 20th century that has an astonishingly contemporary relevance. Many of her images feel as if they were made today.
“This exhibition and the accompanying publication celebrate Jerrems’ life and work, highlighting her extraordinary portraits of women, made for the ground-breaking A book about Australian women, on the 50th anniversary of its publication.”
Carol Jerrems: Portraits is on at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, until 2 March 2025. Open daily. Tickets: Adults are $20, concessions are $18, under 30s are $10 and under 18 are free.
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