Artist statement: This photograph is part of a seven-year exploration into modern Australian identity. The series began as an untethered wandering through each state and territory. My photographic method relies on randomness and chaos to balance the rigid order (physics, chemistry and mathematics) inherent in the medium. I had no particular agenda at the forefront of my mind. It took five years of looking and listening to decompartmentalise our blinkered notion of history and nationalism and recognise our unresolved national shame. Living for a year in a remote Aboriginal community provided a deeper understanding of the racism and disadvantage faced by First Nations people. When I first met my friend Warrick, we were riding in the back of a Toyota. He turned and said to me, ‘You got sadness in you Jakamarra, you got shame job.’
jonfrank.org
Also known as Giclee prints or bubble-jet prints, pigment ink-jet prints are generated by computer printers from digital or scanned files using dye-based or pigment-based inks. A series of nozzles spray tiny droplets of ink onto the paper surface in a precise pattern that corresponds to the digital image file. In dye-based prints the ink soaks into the paper, whereas in pigment-based prints the ink rests and dries on top of the paper surface.
Whilst the term is broad, pigment ink-jet prints have come to be associated with prints produced on fine art papers. They are the most versatile and archival method of printing available to photographers today. A wide variety of material on which an image can be printed with such inks are available, including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolour paper, cotton canvas or pre-coated canvas.
