Ricky Maynard’s work asserts his belief in the value of documentary photography as a tool to effect social change. A descendant of the Big River and Ben Lomond people, he photographed the history of Indigenous communities, particularly those located in and around his home in Tasmania. Throughout his career, he documented and traced songlines, important historical events, sacred sites and practices. For Maynard, an important aspect of his work was to leave proof about Indigenous people where it had previously been absent or distorted. His intense, full-frame portraits of Wik Elders were inspired by these people’s battle for custodianship of their traditional land in the western part of Cape York Peninsula. The images capture their struggle while providing cultural insights in subtle yet powerful ways.
2023
Gelatin silver prints are black-and-white photographic prints that have been created using papers coated with an emulsion of gelatin and light-sensitive silver salts. After the papers are briefly exposed to light (usually through a negative), a chemical developer renders the latent image as reduced silver, which is then fixed and washed. This technique was first introduced in the 1870s and is still used today. Most twentieth-century black-and-white photographs are gelatin silver prints. They are known for being highly detailed and sharply defined prints with a distinguishable smooth, even image surface.
