Anne Ferran facts for kids

Anne Ferran (born 1949) is a talented Australian photographer. She creates art using cameras and other media.

About Anne Ferran

Anne Ferran was born in Sydney, Australia, on May 10, 1949. She started showing her photographs in the early 1980s.

In 1986, Anne moved to Europe. She received a special grant to travel and work there. She spent six months at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. Later, she returned to Sydney to finish her advanced studies. In 1995, she moved to Melbourne. She also had a residency in London in 2003. Anne Ferran now lives in Sydney. She recently retired from her teaching job at the University of Sydney.

Her Education

Anne Ferran studied at several universities. She earned a degree from the University of Sydney. She also has a degree from Sydney College of the Arts (1985). Her Master of Fine Arts degree is from the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales.

Her Photography Career

Anne Ferran became known as a modern photographer in the 1980s. This was thanks to her works like Carnal Knowledge and Scenes on the Death of Nature. She uses film and digital cameras. But she also works with video and even textiles.

Her photographs have been shown all over Australia. Major galleries like the Art Gallery of New South Wales have featured her art. Her work has also traveled internationally. It has been displayed in New Zealand, Japan, and the United States.

Anne Ferran's art often explores Australia's past. She is very interested in the lives of women and children from the colonial period. These are people whose stories might not be well known. More recently, she has also looked at the history of birds. She explores how their natural homes are changing. A big show of her work toured in 2014.

Important Artworks

Scenes on the Death of Nature (1986)

Scenes on the Death of Nature was first shown in 1987. It was at The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. This series was also part of an exhibition in 1993. That show was called 'Points of view: Australian Photography 1985-95'.

The series features five large black and grey prints. They show young women draped over each other. The women wear long, plain white clothes. Their faces look serious, like old statues. One of her works, Scenes on the Death of Nature I, was part of the Know My Name exhibition. This show featured Australian women artists in 2020-21.

Carnal Knowledge 1984

For this project, Anne Ferran used her own daughter and friends. She wanted to add a motherly feeling to the pictures.

The images are close-ups of faces. They look calm and still. The artist made them appear like stone. This gives the feeling of time passing. This exhibition was shown in Sydney in 1985. It was part of the Australian Perspecta exhibition. It returned to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1999.

Lost to worlds 2008

Lost to worlds includes photographs taken over ten years. Anne Ferran created this project in Tasmania. She visited the sites of two old women's prisons. These places were called "female factories." They were where women who had broken laws were held long ago.

This work helps us think about Australia's past. It connects to a global art trend. This trend uses old records and places to create new art. One "female factory" was in Hobart. The other was near the town of Ross. Today, only one building and some old stones remain.

The pictures mostly show the landscape. They rarely show the sky or the horizon. There are thirty images in the series. They are printed on aluminum sheets. As viewers move around, the reflections make the images look like they are moving. Anne Ferran uses the quiet, empty fields. She finds beauty in the stillness of these powerful images. The series reminds us of a past that is broken but still important.

Tamworth Textile Triennial:Tension(s) 2020

Anne Ferran's work was shown at the Tamworth Regional Gallery. This exhibition began on August 1, 2020.

Other Exhibitions

• Box Of Birds
• Female House Of Correction
• Birds Of Darlinghurst
• Rydalmere Vertical
• Songbirds Are Everywhere
• Soft Caps
• Lost To Worlds 2008
• Scenes On The Death Of Nature
• Backwater
• Untitled Photograms
• Twice Removed
• Insula
• 1-38