My Digital Artefact – Photo Essay Series

Wollongong is a photo essay series that explores the mediocrity of suburban Australia, with a particular emphasis on the southern coastal town of Wollongong. It’s also created in response to Elif Gülen’s Istanbul series. 

Mid October, it’s the first day over 30 degrees and everyone has the bright idea to flock to the beach. Sea gulls roam lazily overhead, snagging a discarded chip every now and then. The sea laps against the shore in tandem with the hundreds of beach goers who litter at the edge of the water, like an army of toy soldiers. On the streets in the central hub of the city, many individuals walk briskly up the mild hills on a mission to get to work.

This is Wollongong. A coastal town south of Sydney, where over 289,000 people call this their home. Despite the ever-growing fluctuation of tourists, Wollongong is relatively mediocre, yet the appeal of ducking to the beach definitely has its appeal. For this photo series I really wanted to delve into the routine lives of the community, and how it differs from those who aren’t familiar with living in a coastal town, or living in Australia in general. This is it, the Gong as locals call it, in all its raw authentic glory.
Why would we live anywhere else?

All photos were taken by me (Tanae Armstrong), using an iPhone 7. 

---

This was my digital artefact, a photo essay in response to Turkish photographer Elif Gülen’s Istanbul series. When I first began this project I never really associated the Middle East as being a part of Asia, which is why I was so interested to explore a particular aspect of this culture. This was my first ever autoethnographic experience, it was also my first ever experience researching Asia, so I was quite thrilled at the prospect at delving into these elements as well as experimenting with a hobby I’m quite passionate about.

With my previous blog post on this matter, I was researching into female photographers as a collective, the idea of feminism being portrayed in Gülen’s work, and also exploring some epiphanies I had when studying and observing her work. However, in the last couple of weeks I’ve been more invested in researching the meaning behind Gülen’s work, which has consequently influenced my own, and reflexively taking a look at my epiphanies.

Epiphanies and Research into Elif Gülen’s Photography

I briefly touched on the themes of identity and feminism in Elif Gülen’s photography, which were epiphanies I had when researching her work. However, since then I have also come to realise that mediocrity and authenticity are themes that I associate with the subjects in her images, and also the meaning of the photos overall. I didn’t realise these themes at first, it was only when I was studying the individuals present in her images, which I began to question why does she represent Turkey in this way? 

I came to the conclusion that she represents Turkey through her photographs in a way that correlates with her ideas of what her home is. The mediocrity present about the ordinary people, and the obscure architecture and places captured are what makes her work so interesting, as this is her way of expressing her identity, and her knowledge and memories of the culture she is familiar with. Based on this, I tried to portray Wollongong from the perspective of myself, things that I associate with my home such as sporadic trips to the beach, which also will help outsiders understand a little about my culture and also myself.

Reflections

Mentioned above was the main epiphanies I had about Gülen’s work, however one unexpected aspect of this digital artefact was my experimentation with iPhone photography. I was a little hesitant to experiment ethnographically with this, as I was very much set on using my canon camera, however I definitely understood the appeal of this minimalistic medium, and also the reason as to why Gülen’s photography didn’t rely on expensive gear like other professional photographers do.

I also experimented with black and white photography. With Elif Gülen’s photography she’s drawn to light and shadows and she captures that beautifully in her work. I suspect this is one of the reasons she uses black and white photography, as there’s a symbiotic relationship between patterns, light, shadows, and details when using black and white photography.

In hindsight, I’m glad I engaged in two mediums I’m unfamiliar with, as I felt this definitely helped understand Gülen’s photography, and just photography in general. Reflecting on myself over this process, I realised that I quite enjoyed the entire project and its methodology, and I found it interesting to explore as it changed my perception of other cultures.