Alana Harris interviewed by Peter Read and Jackie Huggins in 1998 for the Seven years on - continuing life histories of Aboriginal leaders oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 2085631
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Harris, Alana, 1966-, interviewee
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 1998
- 2 digital audio tapes (ca. 119 min.)
- Series:
- Seven years on - continuing life histories of Aboriginal leaders oral history project.
- Summary:
-
Harris, a photographer, speaks of her family background and growing up in Cowra, NSW; her Indigenous Australian mother, who is of the Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal people, and non-Indigenous father who is from Penrith, NSW; her schooling and move to Canberra on completing her Higher School Certificate in 1984; her love of photography; her traineeship in photography at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in Canberra; her enrolment in a photography course at Canberra Institute of Technology; her experience in a photographic project at Leeton; the 'After 200 years' project in 1987; her appointment as Senior Photographer at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS); her belief in the importance of technical training in photography; her stylistic preferences; attitude to digital photography; her approach to undertaking photography in indigenous communities; issues of copyright, permission and contextualization; the 'Black Women's Calendar' of 1993; her work for the Queensland Art Gallery in 1989.
Harris discusses her loyalty to AIATSIS and reasons for leaving it; her work at the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC); her professional development grant from the Australia Council in 1995; her solo show at the High Court in Canberra in 1990; AIATSIS policy on public access to photographs of indigenous subject matter; her role on the AHC's photographic database; the concept of heritage sites; Canberra as a city and its indigenous community; Murris and Kooris in Canberra; her photo of Black Mountain titled "Bush Renewal" which earned her an award in 1993. She also speculates, at the invitation of the interviewers, on what she hopes to achieve in seven years' time, and discusses the future of pictorial archiving and photography in the digital era.
- Biography/History:
-
Alana Harris was born at Penrith, NSW, in 1966 and is from Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal country. She grew up in Cowra, NSW, but on completing her Higher School Certificate moved to Canberra in 1984. She received a traineeship in photography at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in Canberra that year and commenced a Diploma of Arts (Photography) at the Canberra Institute of Technology in 1985. In 1987, she participated in the 'After 200 years' project and was employed as Senior Photographer at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies (AIATSIS, formerly AIAS). She has been involved in several exhibitions and in 1990 received the NAIDOC ACT Aboriginal Artist of the Year award. She was awarded that honour again in 1993, in which year she also received the Australian Heritage Commission Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander National Art Award (Photography). In 1995, she was awarded a professional development grant from the Australia Council. At the time of interview, she was a member of the ACT Cultural Council, Chair of the Visual Arts Committee, and employed as Photographic Database Manager at the Australian Heritage Commission, Canberra.
- Notes:
-
- The second interview in this series was recorded in 2005 and is held in the National Library of Australia's Oral History and Folklore collection at ORAL TRC 5516.
- Recorded on Sept. 20, 1998 at Turner, A.C.T.
- Digital master available National Library of Australia;
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary and uncorrected transcript (typescript, 76 leaves) available.
- Subject:
-
- Harris, Alana, 1966- -- Interviews
- Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Art, Aboriginal Australian -- Exhibitions
- Aboriginal Australian photographers -- Exhibitions
- Photographers -- Australia -- Interviews
- Aboriginal Australians -- Interviews
- Photography -- Australia -- Aboriginal artists
- Occupation:
- Photographers
- Other authors/contributors:
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Seven years on - continuing life histories of Aboriginal leaders oral history project.
This collection contains 233 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
Contact us for information about copying. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2068 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1998
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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