“We cannot argue when someone says, I feel, it is not our right. It is part of our own journey to learn empathy rather than compassion. Our own reaction to the images exposes us to ourselves and our ability to listen when someone lays their naked soul in our path.” – Belinda Mason, Photographer

The images are a collaboration designed to challenge existing prejudices and misconceptions by reflecting upon a personal life journey to discover a sense of self. Every participant has not only exposed their body by being photographed, but also there soul by expressing the most intimate of emotions and thoughts. The support and the guidance of the participants of each exhibition has been critical to the integrity of the work.

EXHIBITION DATES

2018 ‘Silent Tears’- Tamworth Regional Gallery

2017 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Dubbo Regional Gallery NSW
2017 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Tamworth Regional Gallery
2017 ‘Unfinished Business’ – TBC KickArts Cairns QLD
2017 ‘Unfinished Business’ – TBC Macedon VIC

2016 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Albury Library & Museum NSW
2016 ‘Unfinished Business’ – State Library of Western Australia WA
2016 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Araluen Cultural Centre NT
2016 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery NSW
2016 ‘Silent Tears’ – Sydney University NSW
2016 ‘Silent Tears – Berlin Photography Biennale, Germany
2016 Finalist – MAMA Art Foundation National Photography Prize, portrait of Lorna Munro
2016 Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art, portrait of Lorna Munro
2016 ‘Serving Country’ –  HEAD ON Photo Festival, NSW
2016 Silent Tears – New York United Geneva Committee on the Rights of People with Disability
2016 Silent Tears – New York United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
2016 ‘Outing Disability’ – Midsumma Festival, Melbourne VIC

2015 ‘Outing Disability’ – Sub Station, Melbourne, VIC
2015 ‘Silent Tears’ – Ballarat International Foto Bienale VIC
2015 ‘Unfinished Business’ – Northern Territory Library NT
2015 ‘Unfinished Business’ – KPMG Sydney NSW
2015 ‘Off Side’ – University of Western Sydney Werrington Campus
2015 ‘Outing Disability’ – Newcastle Regional Gallery, NSW
2015 ‘Serving Country’ – All Stars NRL Game Brisbane
2015 ‘Serving Country’ – Penrith Regional Gallery, NSW
2015 ‘Serving Country’ – Western Sydney University, NSW
2015 ‘Serving Country’ – Currumbin RSL, Queensland

2014 ‘Unfinished Business’ – World Conference on Indigenous Persons – Digital 3D
2014 ‘Unfinished Business’ – World Health Organization, Geneva – 3D
2014 ‘Elders On Campus’ – University of Western Sydney, Yarramundi Lecture
2014 Black & White Spider Awards – Nominee
2014 ‘Serving Country’ – ATSI Australian Defence Force – University of Western Sydney – Brush Steel
2014 DUO Magazine Percival Photographic Portrait Prize Perc Tucker Regional Gallery/Pinnacles Gallery
2014 ‘Outing Disability’ – Seymour Centre Sydney – portraits on mirrors

2013 ‘Unfinished Business’ United Nations, Geneva – 3D Portraits
2013 ‘Women In Sport’ 3D Casula Powerhouse
2013 ‘Yolngu on Balanda’ – Black on White – State Library of NSW
2013 “Silent Tears’ – Cancer Victoria Art Award
2013 Black & White Spider Awards – Nominee

2012 San Diego Institute of Art – “Lael” The Art of Photography
2012 Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art New Media Festival – “Lael” & “Golden Girl”
2012 Collingwood Gallery – “Conversations on the cusp of change” “Lael”& “RiverbankFrank”
2012 Toyota Gallery “We are young and Free” – “Aurukun Boys”
2012 Moran Photography Prize “Aurukun Boys” plus slide show “Tamara” & “I shall not hate”
2012 Josephine Urlich & Win Schubert Photography Prize ” Born again Chinese”
2012 Albury Library Museum Wiradjuri Talkback
2012 Galeria Zero Basel Switzerland – 3D lenticulars “Faith” “Golden Girl”
2012 BHP Images of the Outback ” Aurukun Boys” “Funeral”
2012 MPRAG – Controversy – The Power of Art – “The last Supper”

2011 Moran Photography Prize – slide show ” Alby & Karen”
2011 Head On Slide Show + workshop for children at Glebe Primrary School
2011 Albury City Gallery “Yolngu on Balanda” Belinda & Djarramarr Jan – Feb

2010 PCP, WA IRIS AWARDS “Child Free Zone”
2010 BHP Billiton Cannington Waltzing Matilda Photo Exhibition “Y&B”
2010 Art On Walls – Lennox Gallery London – group GaleriaZero
2010 Arts Awards Cancer Council -group – breast cancer survivor
2010 Head On PCP Sydney, slide show “omiema”
2010 International Escena Mobile Sevilla Spain solo”Intimate Encounters”
2010 GaleriaZero Barcelona “Yolngu on Balanda” Belinda and Djarramarr
2010 Kingston Art Centre, Victoria “Only a Man” solo 4-22 June
2010 PCP, WA “Yolngu on Balanda” Belinda & Djarramarr 1-25 July
2010 Intimate Encounters Toronto Arts Ability Festival
2009 Mosman Festival Photo Exhibition, Sydney “Japanese Tourist” – group
2009 Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne “Yolngu on Balanda” – group
2009 Blake Prize for Religious Art “The Last Supper” – National Tour – group
2009 Iris Awards PCP WA – “Yolngu on Balanda” – group
2009 Fine Art Gallery, Beijing China, group show “Sense of Self” series – group
2009 Cancer Victoria Art Award, “Hope” – National Tour – group
2009 Heritage Photo Awards USQ Art Gallery Brisbane “Japanese Tourist” – group
2009 Grafton Regional Gallery – “Only a Man” solo
2009 Grafton Regional GalleryPost Card Show “Japanese Tourist” – group
2009 HEAD ON Sydney ACP slide show – group

2008 Moran Photography Prize “4G” Mitchell Library, Sydney – Winner
2008 Community Arts Centre Whangarei New Zealand, IE – solo
2008 Kodak Salon Melbourne CCP – winner 2008 National Works on Paper, MPRG, Victoria – 4G – group
2008 Head On 2008 Slide Show ACP, Sydney . “two weeks” – group
2008 Heritage Photographic Awards USQ Arts Gallery 2008 International Colour Awards , Masters Cup London
2008 Olive Cotton Awards 2008 Tweed River Art Gallery “Crash” – group
2008 Xhibit 9 Sandy Edwards Danks Street, Sydney
2008 Canon AIPP Awards Brisbane, silver distinction
2008 Corangamarah Art Prize “Ramesh”, Victoria
2008 PCP Iris Awards “Ramesh”, Perth ( winner)
2008 Creative Madness “Invisible Scars”, Sydney
2007 Intimate Encounters Toronto
2007 Holten Lee Gallery England United Kingdom “Intimate Encounters”
2007 High Beam Festival Adelaide Australia “Sexuality & Disability”
2007 Abilities Arts Festival Toronto Canada
2007 Museum of Sex New York “Sexuality and Disability”
2007 Olive Cotton Award 2007 Tweed River Art Gallery – “Denis”
2007 Art Corangamarah Prize Con.ciet “invisible burns”
2007 Mosman Art Gallery Art Prize – Rebirth – Winner
2007 Roving eye – Documentary Photography “Maningrida” 2007 Galeriazero Cork Street Gallery London “Friend or Foe”
2007 PCP Perth IRIS Awards “Two Weeks”
2007 Sydney Childrens Hospital “Maningrida”, Sydney
2007 “Girl Parade” Australian Centre of Photography, Sydney
2007 St George Regional Museum, NSW 2007 Lismore Regional Art Gallery, NSW

2006 McGregor Prize for Photography, Uni Queensland – Deke
2006 Josephine Ulrick Nat Photo Exhibit Tweed River Gallery “Pommie”
2006 Head On Sydney Aust Photographers Gallery – “After and Before”
2006 Casula Powerhouse Sydney – “Becoming Woman” 2006 Chrissie Cotter Gallery Sydney – “Maningrida”
2006 Seymour Centre Sydney, “Only a Man”
2006 Brunswick Street Gallery – The Body Show (group)
2006 Mars Gallery Melbourne – NUDE ( group)
2006 Mosman Art Gallery Art Prize – (group) Deke
2006 Creative Madness – Sydney Australia (group)
2006 Galeriazero – Barcelona Spain “Intimate Encounters”
2006 La Trobe University, Melbourne “Intimate Encounters”
2006 Brunswick Street Gallery – Auction (group)
2006 Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, IE

2005 Cairns Regional Gallery, QLD IE
2005 Albury Regional Art Gallery, NSW IE
2005 Grafton Regional Art Gallery, NSW IE
2005 Melbourne VIC Chapel on Chapel IE
2005 Tweed River Art Gallery, NSW IE
2005 Michael Nagy Gallery . Head On, Sydney “Peace Maker”
2005 BHP Images of The Outback Exhibition Winton QLD (group)
2005 Creative Madness – Sydney Australia (group)
2005 Galeriazero – Barcelona Spain (group)

2004 BHP Images of The Outback Exhibition Winton QLD (group)
2004 USQ McGregor Prize for Photography
2004 Art for Labour – Michael Nagy Gallery Sydney
2004 Fuji ACMP Photographer’s Collection – NSW Parliament House
2004 Fuji ACMP Photographer’s Collection – Gallery 101 Melbourne
2004 Tap Gallery Paddington Sydney – Environmental Art Exhibition
2004 Shoot the Chef – Art Gallery of NSW (group) – Maningrida Chef
2004 BHP Images of The Outback Exhibition Winton QLD (group)
2004 Perth Institute for Contemporary Art Photo Media Award
2004 Gallery Xposure solo exhibition ‘Becoming Woman’ Sydney
2004 Hera Gallery – Girl Art Now – Rhode Island USA
2004 The Araluen Centre for the Arts – Alice Prize Alice Springs
2004 Gallery Xposure – ‘Exposure One’ (group) Sydney Australia
2004 Michael Nagy Gallery . Head On, Sydney Australia
2004 Fraser Gallery Washington International Bethesda,USA
2004 National Maritime Festival Newcastle Australia 2004 Cowra Festival Australia
2004 Roxby Downs Future Art South Australia 2004 Ballarat Grainery Lane Theatre VIC IE
2004 Charles Darwin University, Alice Sprints, NT IE 2004 June Tapp Art Space, Katherine, NT IE
2004 Darwin, Venue TBC, NT IE
2004 Caloundra Cultural Centre, QLD
2004 Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, WA IE
2004 Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, WA IE
2004 Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, NSW

2003 Nikon Summer Salon CCP Melbourne Australia
2003 Waterloo Gallery, Refocus International exhibition London ,UK
2003 Energex Arbour Nat. Contemporary Photo Exhibit Brisbane 2003 Josephine Ulrick – National Photo Exhibition Tweed River
2003 BHP Images of The Outback Exhibition Winton QLD(group)
2003 Mt Alexander Rural Access Castlemaine VIC IE
2003 Kingston Arts Centre Moorabbin VIC IE
2003 Upper Yarra Arts Centre Warburton VIC IE
2003 Arts Network East Gippsland Bairnsdale VIC IE
2003 Horsham Vic IE 2003 Brisbane Powerhouse QLD Watashabi Festival
2003 Colac Otway Arts & Cultural Centre IE 2003 CEMA Arts Centre Portland IE
2003 Swan Hill Arts Centre IE 2002 Nikon Summer Salon CCP Melbourne (group)

2002 Willoughby Art Prize Sydney ( Group) 2002 Goya Gallery Southbank, Melbourne VIC IE
2002 High Beam Festival, Adelaide SA 2002 Diorama Gallery, London UK 2002 Cultural Program of the Sydney
2002 Gay Games IE
2002 Warnambool City Gallery VIC IE
2002 Josephine Ulrick – National Photography Exhibition Tweed River 2001 Soho Gallery, Sydney NSW

2001 Entrepot Gallery University of TAS Hobart 2001 Josephine Ulrick – National Photo Exhibition Tweed River Gallery
2001 Celebrating Democracy – Australian National Museum Canberra

1997 Australian Composers – (group) Museum of Contemporary Art

1990 South Australian Photographers – (group) Festival Centre Adelaide

1989 Rothmans Press Awards – (group) Australian Tour

1985 Plains People – stories from indigenous South Australians.

 

Silent Tears
Belinda Mason’s interactive multi layered sensory installation is a mix of glass, photography, film and audio  The project was developed in collaboration with the participants who are women with disabilities who have experienced violence or women who have acquired their disability as a direct result of violence. All of these women have the opportunity to reveal the long term impact, and circumstances, of the violence that they have experience and how this  has affected their lives.  The exhibition provides a focal point for discussion, education and awareness raising – providing the impetus for social change. Funded by the Australia Council for the Arts, the project engaged three other artists Margherita Coppolino, Denise Beckwith and Dieter Knierim and is curated by Kon Gouriotis. The Australian component of the exhibition was showcased in Australia at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in August 2015. The Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with disability, Diane Kingston, has invited us to represent the universality of the violence against women and expand the exhibition to include women from other countries, with the support of an international disability organisation (CBM) with the intent to exhibit the works the United Nations in Geneva.

Unfinished Business
The exhibition of 3D holographic lenticular portraits and video installation titled Unfinished Business by Belinda Mason and Knierim Brothers Productions exposes the impact of disability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. Premièred at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, 2013, the exhibition was opened by the Director General of the United Nations in Geneva, and the Australian Ambassador to the United Nations to coincide with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the Human Rights Council, 24th Session.  The work was then shown at the World Health Headquarters in Geneva before becoming part of the Australian governments contribution to the 2014 United National World Conference on Indigenous Persons in New York. This work is now touring Australia. This project is supported by The Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, First People Disability Network, Outback Academy, Fred Hollows Foundation, Outback Academy Red Dust Heelers, KPMG, Veolia, Simpsons Solicitors and Primary Communication

Serving Country
The Serving Country exhibition, by Belinda Mason and Dieter Knierim, acknowledges and recognises the valuable contribution by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women have made to Australian Defence Service. The portraits, created during the Redfern Coloured Diggers March in April 2014, were first displayed as a part of 2014 VIVID Festival Wartime Legends light show at Sydney University. During 2014 NAIDOC, Western Sydney University exhibited 20 of the portraits which were printed on 60cm x 40cm brushed steel panels. In conjunction with the 2015 ANZAC Celebrations Penrith Regional Gallery featured the works as part of their exhibition’Home/Front. During 2015 NAIDOC week, with the assistance of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the portraits were exhibited at the Headquarters of the Department of Defence in Canberra. To coincide with 2014 Remembrance Day, the portraits were exhibited at Currumbin RLS Club. The works returned to Western Sydney University in late 2015 till early 2016 as part their exhibition ‘Remembering H.A.C’ In April 2016 the work was displayed as part of the Sydney HEAD ON Photography Festival, and was launched in conjunction with the Coloured Diggers March at the Redfern Community Centre. This work now has over 100 participants from across Australia and is available for display.

Outing Disability Outing Disability showcases photographic portraits with individuals’ stories of coming out, transitioning, dating, and finding acceptance in a world that often makes invisible, the sexuality of people with disability. This exhibition is supported by Family Planning NSW, who continue to use this work as an education tool to create community engagement. Developed in collaboration with internationally acclaimed photographer, Belinda Mason, Outing Disability is an intimate portrait series which takes the viewer on a journey into the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people with disability. Outing Disability premiered at the Sydney Mardi Gras in February 2014 and went on to be exhibited at the Newcastle Regional Library in New South Wales in May 2015. The exhibition was shown at The Substation as part of the celebrations of International Day of People Disability in December 2015 with support of the Hobsons Bay Council. In January 2016 the exhibition is a part of the Melbourne Midsumma Festival and will be exhibited at the Footscray Library with the support of the Maribyrnong City Council. The work is available for future exhibitions.

Black on White
Images from her Yolgnu on Balanda (Black on White) series won her the 2008 Human Rights Award for Photography. The original exhibition was shown at the Perth Centre of Photography in 2009, Albury Library & Museum in 2010 and Galeria Zero in Barcelona, Spain in 2011. This series expanded and documented the remarkable and insightful voices of 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their opinions of white culture.The completed project was exhibited at the State Library of NSW in 2013, as part of the hEAD ON Photography Festival, before being donated to the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra in 2014.

Offside
In 2013, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre commissioned this work, as part of a broad Women In Sport initiative which examines the complex issues relating to women and sport through an arts and cultural lens. The work was also shown at the University of Western Sydney in conjunction with the celebrations for the 2015 International Women’s Day. These women are diverse and extraordinary because of their lives outside of sport. They are all strong and fragile, which is the thread that links womanhood. Their fears and insecurities are the foundations that have empowered their passions, and, in turn, give rise for them to experience larger and richer lives.The women as a group represent the diversity of experiences of sport across cultural boundaries and societal expectations, each of these women has broken unwritten rules to play their sport and follow a passion that has broadened their lives outside of sport. This exhibition has expanded and is still growing incorporating over 16 women. Please contact me if you would like to participate in this project. Two images from this series are held at the Australian Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. They have been a part of an exhibition at the Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art (LACDA) The Toyota Community Spirit Award, Conversations on the Cusp of Change, The Art of Photography Show CA.

Becoming Women
Becoming Woman is an exhibition by Belinda Mason that follows the journey of Paula Kaye, who has chosen to challenge stereotypes and popular misconceptions of the transsexual woman. The work was created in conjunction with an SBS documentary in 2004 and was exhibited at the Casula Powerhouse, Sydney.

Only A Man
Belinda Mason’s 2006 series Only a Man examines the role of men as society’s disposable commodity. This exhibition is a forum for men who rarely feel able to freely express their vulnerability and emotional needs, and who feel dis-empowered by societal expectations.  Launched  at the Seymour Centre in Sydney in 2006 it visitedGrafton Regional Gallery,NSW and received an Honorary Mention in the 2002 Josephine Urlich Photography Award.

Intimate Encounters
For 14 years Belinda Mason’s first exhibition Intimate Encounters, which explores sexuality and disability, toured to every metropolitan and key regional city throughout Australia – 32 venues from 2001 to 2007 and to nine international cities from 2002 to 2014 . It is held in 6 institutions around the world including The Museum of Sex in New York and ShapeArts in London. This exhibition was supported by Accessible Arts Australia and Visions of Australia.

Beyond the Burn
The photographic essay Beyond the Burn, did just that. Skin is our largest organ. It protects us from the outside and gives us identity through complexion and form. We breathe through it. We feel through it. We sense through it. We experience comfort and love through it. The immediate attention of the trauma associated with burns is addressed in the media with the intensity of the acute event itself. What is easily forgotten is that burns alter an individual’s life forever and the journey of a burn survivor is a life long one. The image of burn survivor Ramesh was awarded the 2008 IRIS Award and also the 2008 Kodak Salon Award.

Last Rights
Belinda Mason has collaborated with Dieter Knierim and Denise Beckwith to create the multi-media exhibition Last Rights, which asks the question of those who holds the power to give or take a life. This is a work in progress and potential participants are welcome to submit an expression of interest.

Eye 2 Eye
The images are all 3D holographic‚ lenticular portraits of Australian Documentary Photographers. The work is a testament to those photographers who have had an impact on Australian Documentary Photography. Participants to date include, Stephen Dupont, Tamara Dean, Tim Page, Merv Bishop, Claire Martin, William Yang, Robert McFarlane, Tony Mott , David Dare and Nigel Brennan. I enjoy the process of discovering a person and translating not their physicality, but their inner self into an image. It is not their story or images that inspires me, but the way in which they tell it, how much they are prepared to expose their own frailty in revealing the person behind the images that we all know. The work is yet to be completed and I welcome the opportunity to work with a curator to create a body of work that presents a cross section of Australian photographic talent. It presents the opportunity to showcase photographers themselves, whose faces we don’t always recognise, although their images are etched forever in our memories.

Fertile Ground
Belinda Mason has collaborated with Dieter Knierim and Denise Beckwith to create the multi media series Fertile Ground, which explores the rights of the child. This is a work in progress and potential participants are welcome to submit an expression of interest.

Sense of Self
The participants from this collection of images entitle “Sense of Self” have experienced life-changing events that have moulded and strengthen their internal identity. These diverse stories confront us through their honestly and intimacy. I am often asked how I find these people, sometimes I think they just find me. We happen upon one another in often most unexpected ways.

Shade of Grey Gender is not black or white, but many shades of grey. Belinda Mason and Dieter Knierim through this exhibition explore the diversity of experience of both gender and sexuality.