Ruth Maddison facts for kids

Ruth Maddison is an Australian photographer born in 1945. She started taking pictures in the 1970s. Today, she is still an important part of the Australian art world.

About Ruth Maddison

Ruth Maddison is an Australian photographer. She was born on November 18, 1945, in Melbourne. Now, she lives in Eden, a town on the south coast of New South Wales. Before becoming a photographer, Ruth was a student studying physiotherapy. She was also a mother of three children and worked many different jobs.

In 1976, her friend, Ponch Hawkes, who was also a photographer, encouraged her to try photography. Ruth used a camera and a darkroom set up at home. Just six months later, she got her first paid photography job. Within three years, she had her own art show. Even though she taught herself photography, her work became very popular and well-known across Australia. Ruth has also taught photography at an Australian learning center.

Her Photography Work

Ruth Maddison has worked as a freelance photographer. This means she took pictures for different groups. She worked for theater companies, government groups, and newspapers. From 1984 to 1985, she joined a special art project. This project helped artists work within communities.

Ruth loves taking pictures of people and real-life events. Her photos often show a strong feeling of closeness. In the 1980s, she mostly photographed people in everyday places around Melbourne. In 1996, she moved from the city to a seaside town. Since then, her work has grown to include many famous photo series. These series tell the stories of people in the Eden and Pambula areas of New South Wales. Some of these include Now A River Went Out of Eden (2002) and Girt by Sea (2008).

She continues to explore ideas about relationships, communities, and families. Ruth's projects often show how people are connected. They give us a peek into the daily lives of regular people in their homes and neighborhoods. She also worked as a feminist photographer. This means she used her art to give a voice to women. Her work supported the women's movement in Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. Some of these projects are And so...we joined the Union (1985), Women over 60 (1991), and Single Mothers (1995).

How She Takes Pictures

In her first solo art show in 1979, called Christmas Holiday with Bob's Family, Ruth Maddison showed photos that were hand-coloured. This was a popular way to add color to photos in the 1800s and early 1900s. Photographers would add paints or dyes to black and white pictures. This made the photos look colorful, last longer, or even become more valuable. It also let artists add their own unique touch.

Later, as technology improved, hand-coloring became less common. But recently, it has become popular again. Now, it is seen as an important part of modern Australian photography. In 2015, the National Gallery of Victoria held an exhibition. It showed hand-coloured works by many artists, including Ruth Maddison.

Later in her career, Ruth started trying new things. In 2015, she said that she worried about how news on TV could divide people. Now, she mainly focuses on stories that bring people together. She also explores themes like death and change. While she started with photography, Ruth now also uses textiles (like fabric), sculptures, and moving images (videos). Some of her experimental works from 2009 include:

• Dead to the world: an inkjet print on fabric with sewn fabric flowers.
• Coming to the Monaro: a silent video loop.
• The day I left my garden #1 & #2: made with perspex, glass, wood, neon light, and dried flowers.
• There is a time: archival prints on cotton paper.

What Critics Say

In 1983, a newspaper called The Australian wrote about Ruth Maddison's work. The article talked about her photos in a group show called Survey 83. Her photos in this show were from her series Some Men. The writer noticed that Ruth used hand-coloring in a special way. She didn't use it to make her subjects look glamorous, like some photographers did. Instead, she used oil paint to change the colors and textures. This made her photos look dreamlike and more like paintings.

Where Her Work Is Kept

Ruth Maddison's work is held in many important public collections. You can find her photos in museums, galleries, and art centers across Australia. Some of these places include:

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
• Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourne
• National Library of Australia Picture Collection, Canberra
• State Library of Victoria Picture Collection, Melbourne
• State Library of New South Wales Picture Collection, Sydney

Art Shows

Ruth's Solo Shows

Ruth Maddison has had many solo art shows in Australia and other countries since 1979. Here are some of them:

• 1979: Christmas Holiday with Bob's Family, Ewing Gallery, University of Melbourne. This show had many hand-coloured photos that looked like they came from a family album.
• 1980: When A Girl Marries, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney.
• 1983: Some Men, Watters Gallery, Sydney.
• 1988: Street Photography from Australia, Artists for Peace Gallery, Moscow.
• 1991/92/94: Women Over 60, Victorian Centre for Photography; Artspace, Sydney; Darwin Performing Arts Centre.
• 1995: Single Mothers, Access Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria; Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne; National Wool Museum, Geelong, Victoria.
• 2002/03: Now A River Went Out Of Eden, Bega Valley Regional Gallery, NSW and Stills Gallery, Sydney.
• 2008/09: Girt By Sea, Cowra Regional Art Gallery; Eden Killer Whale Museum, NSW.
• 2021: Ruth Maddison: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne.

Group Shows Featuring Ruth's Work

Ruth Maddison's photos have also been part of many important group art shows. Here are a few:

• 1985: And so...we joined the Union, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. This show focused on how women were involved in trade unions.
• 2015: Photography meets feminism: Australian women photographers 1970s–80s, Monash Gallery of Art. This show explored the connection between photography and two big social changes in the 1970s and 1980s: women's liberation and feminism. It also showed how female photographers helped new photo technologies and practices grow in Australia.
• 2015: Colour My world: Hand-coloured Australian Photography, National Gallery of Australia. This was the first show of its kind to feature hand-coloured photos by different artists, including Ruth Maddison. It celebrated a style that became less popular but then came back.

Awards and Residencies

Ruth Maddison has received many grants, awards, and residencies throughout her career. These help artists get funding, recognition, and places to work.

• 1980: Australia Council for the Arts Visual Arts Fund - New Work.
• 1985: Australia Council for Trade Unions Artists Residency (for "And so .. we joined the Union").
• 2002: Winner, Josephine Ulrick National Photography Prize for Portraiture.
• 2007: Winner, Hobart City Art Prize for Photography/Digital Media.
• 2013: She spent three months as an artist-in-residence at the Artspace Visual Arts Centre in Sydney. This program helps artists from regional areas get a place to work, money, and help to show their art in a city. It also helps them contribute to the wider art community.