Mervyn Bishop (born July 1945) is an Australian news and documentary photographer. Joining ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' as a

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

in 1962, he was the first

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

to work on a metropolitan daily newspaper and one of the first to become a professional photographer. In 1971, four years after completing his cadetship, he was named Australian Press Photographer of the Year. He has continued to work as a photographer and lecturer.

Early life and education

Mervyn Bishop, a Murri man, was born in July 1945 in

Brewarrina Brewarrina (pronounced ''bree-warren-ah''; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west New South Wales, Australia on the banks of the Barwon River in Brewarrina Shire. It is east of Bourke and west of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway, a ...

in north-west New South Wales. His father, "Minty" Bishop, had been a soldier and shearer, and was himself born to an Aboriginal mother and a

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Indian father. In 1950, "Minty" gained an "official exemption certificate which permitted 'more advanced' Aborigines to live apart from mission

blackfella ''Blackfella'' (also ''blackfellah'', ''blackfulla'', ''black fella'', or ''black fellah'') is an informal term in Australian English to refer to Indigenous Australians, in particular Aboriginal Australians, most commonly among themselves. Simi ...

s in post-war Australia". This enabled the family to live among "ordinary" people in Brewarrina. The catch to this certificate was that the exempt Aboriginal people were expected to "sever their ties with their old culture". or 1963, By high school he had started "chronicling the family with a camera – first his mother's

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

620 __NOTOC__ Year 620 ( DCXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The designation 620 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for ...

and, then a

35mm 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM, a "musical exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver that features music ...

Japanese camera he bought for £15". He moved to

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

when he was 14 to finish his high school at Dubbo High School. He returned to study later, receiving an Associate Diploma in Adult Education at

Sydney College of Advanced Education The Sydney College of Advanced Education was a tertiary education institution in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It existed from 1982 to 1989.

in 1989.

Career

Bishop began his career as a cadet photographer with ''

'' in 1962, the first Aboriginal photographer hired by the paper, becoming the first Aboriginal person to work on a metropolitan daily newspaper and one of the first to become a professional photographer. During four years of his cadetship, he completed a Photography Certificate Course at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now part of TAFE NSW, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education institutions. History The Sydney M ...

., citing In 2004, he remained the only indigenous photographer to have been employed by the paper. He won the

Nikon-Walkley Australian Press Photographer of the Year The Nikon-Walkley Australian Press Photographer of the Year, or Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year is awarded to the photographer whose body of work is considered the best in the country for that year. It recognises newsworthiness, im ...

in 1971 with ''Life and Death Dash'' (1971), a photograph which appeared on the front page of the ''Herald'' in January 1971, depicting a nun rushing to get help for an Aboriginal child. Artist Jonathan Jones wrote in 2014: "In this startling image, composition, contrast and Aboriginal social commentary combine. It is a classic example of photojournalism that has since transgressed its original context and come to insinuate the impact of religious missions within Aboriginal Australia and, in particular, on the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

". From 1974 to 1980, he worked as the

Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established b ...

staff photographer. Some of his most enduring work came from this period, as he visited

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

communities and documented "the first flush of an idealistic era when land rights, equal wages and government-funded aid seemed to presage a new dawn for Aboriginal Australians". It was during this time, in 1975, that he shot the iconic photograph of

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

pouring soil into the hand of

Gurindji Gurindji may refer to: * Gurindji, Northern Territory, a locality in Australia *Gurindji people, an Australian Aboriginal people **Gurindji language, the language of the Gurindji people ** Gurindji Kriol language, the main language now spoken by ...

traditional owner

Vincent Lingiari Vincent Lingiari (; 13 June 1908 or 1919 – 21 January 1988) was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist of the Gurindji people. In his early life he started as a stockman at Wave Hill Station, where the Aboriginal workers were given no ...

, at the handover of the deeds to Gurindji country at

Wattie Creek Daguragu, previously also known as Wattie Creek by the Gurindji people as it is situated on a tributary of the Victoria River (Northern Territory), Victoria River, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located about south ...

. This photograph has been seen as capturing "the symbolic birth of landrights". He returned to the ''Herald'' in 1979, before becoming a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

photographer in 1986, working for such agencies as the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. Bishop completed further studies and lectured in photography at Tranby Aboriginal College, the Eora College, and at the Tin Sheds Gallery at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. In 1991 he had his first

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

, ''In Dreams: Mervyn, Thirty Years of Photography 1960 to 1990'', at the

Australian Centre for Photography The Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) was a not-for-profit photography gallery in Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia that was established in 1973 and which also provided part-time courses and community programs. One of the longest running c ...

. Originally curated by

Tracey Moffatt Tracey Moffatt (born 12 November 1960) is an Indigenous Australian artist who primarily uses photography and video. In 2017, she represented Australia at the 57th Venice Biennale with her solo exhibition, "My Horizon". Her works are held in t ...

, it went on to tour for over 10 years. A book titled ''In Dreams'' was published to accompany the exhibition. He worked as a stills photographer on

Phillip Noyce Phillip Roger Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian film and television director. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet Amer ...

's 2002 drama film ''

Rabbit-Proof Fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from ...

''. He produced a one-man performance piece, ''Flash Blak'', in the vein of a William Yang slide show to music and written and directed by Yang, for the 2004

Message Sticks Festival Message Sticks Festival, also known for some time as Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival, was an arts festival celebrating the culture of Aboriginal Australians, based at the Sydney Opera House, between 1999 and 2013. It focused on film for ...

at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. His aim in the show was to delve "into his family's history to illuminate a wider story about Aboriginal life in the latter half of the 20th century".

Recognition and awards

A photographic portrait of Bishop hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, created by Greg Lee. *1971:

, for ''Life and Death Dash'' *2000:

Red Ochre Award The Red Ochre Award is an annual art award for Indigenous Australian artists. Background and description The Red Ochre Award was established in 1993 by the Australia Council for the Arts. It is awarded annually to an outstanding Indigenous A ...

, worth , from the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announc ...

, "in recognition of his pioneering work and ongoing influence" *2013: Featured in "Through the Eyes of Lens with Merv Bishop", an episode in the 2013 documentary television series '' Desperate Measures''

Personal life

His wife, Elizabeth, died of cancer in 1991, and he was left to care for their teenage son, Tim, and six-year-old daughter, Rosemary.

Collections and exhibitions

A number of Bishop's photographs are held in the permanent collection of the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

(AGNSW), the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, and the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

. In 2010, Bishop's work was included in '' Candid Camera: Australian Photography 1950s–1970s'' at the

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, a group retrospective of social documentary photography which also featured the work of key Australian photographers

Max Dupain Maxwell Spencer Dupain AC OBE (22 April 191127 July 1992) was an Australian modernist photographer. Early life Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography. He later joined the Photographic Society ...

David Moore David Moore or Dave Moore may refer to: Politics * David E. Moore (1798-1875), American politician in Virginia * David Moore (Australian politician) (1824–1898), politician in Sandridge, Victoria, Australia * David Moore (Manx politician), ...

Jeff Carter Jeffrey J. Carter (born January 1, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings, and Pittsburgh Penguin ...

Robert McFarlane Robert MacFarlane or McFarlane may refer to: General * Robert Macfarlan (schoolmaster) (1734–1804), Scottish writer, journalist and translator * Sir Robert Henry MacFarlane (1771–1843), British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars * Rober ...

Rennie Ellis Reynolds Mark Ellis (11 November 194019 August 2003) was an Australian social and social documentary photographer. He also worked, at various stages of his life, as an advertising copywriter, seaman, lecturer, television presenter and founder o ...

Carol Jerrems Carol Joyce Jerrems (14 March 1949 – 21 February 1980) was an Australian photographer/filmmaker whose work emerged just as her medium was beginning to regain the acceptance as an art form that it had in the Pictorial era, and in which she ne ...

and

Roger Scott Roger Scott (23 October 1943 – 31 October 1989) was a British radio disc jockey. He was best known for presenting an afternoon radio show on Capital London from 1973 until 1988 and a late night Sunday show, ''Scott on Sunday'' on BBC Rad ...

. ''Mervyn Bishop: The Exhibition'' was mounted by the

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

from 5 March to 1 August 2021, drawn from the

(AGNSW) collection, the artist's private archive, and enriched by sound and moving image from the NFSA. Solo and group exhibitions include: * 1991–2001: ''In Dreams: Mervyn Bishop Thirty Years of Photography 1960–1990'', initially curated by

, at the Australian Centre for Photography in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and touring for around 10 years * 1991, ''Images of Black Sport'',

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

, Sydney * 1991, ''Her Story: Images of Domestic Labour in Australian Art'',

S.H. Ervin Gallery The S. H. Ervin Gallery is a major public art institution housed in the historic National Trust Centre in Observatory Park, Sydney.Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, Sydney * 1992, Cultural exchange with the Chinese Photographic Society and Australia's

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

* 1992, ''Recent Acquisitions – Australian Photography'', AGNSW * 1993, ''Aratjara: Art of the First Australians'', Touring:

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the art collection of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, in Düsseldorf. United by this institution are three different exhibition venues: the ''K20'' at Grabbeplatz, the ''K21'' in th ...

, Düsseldorf;

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, London;

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, also known as the Louisiana, is an art museum located north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Attracting over 700,000 guests annually, the Louisiana is Scandinavia's most visited museum for Modern art, modern and contempor ...

, Humlebaek * 1993, ''Urban Focus: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art from the Urban Areas of Australia'',

, Canberra * 1993, ''Photographs from the collection'', AGNSW * 1994, ''Critic's choice'', AGNSW * 1994, ''We Are Family'', AGNSW * 1996, ''From the Street – Photographs From the Collection'', AGNSW * 1997, ''Discipline and beauty'', Art Gallery of New South Wales * 1998, ''Retake: Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Photography'', National Gallery of Australia * 2000, ''Another country'', Art Gallery of New South Wales * 2001, ''A Dubbo Day with Jimmy and other reconciliation images'', Stills Gallery,

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

* 2003, ''New View: Indigenous Photographic Perspectives'', Monash Gallery * 2003, ''On the Beach: with Whiteley and fellow Australian artists'',

Brett Whiteley Studio Brett Whiteley AO (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. He held many exhibiti ...

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

* 2004, ''Australian postwar photodocumentary'', AGNSW * 2008, ''Half Light: Portraits from Black Australia'', Art Gallery of New South Wales * 2010, ''Candid Camera: Australian Photography 1950s–1970s'',

, Adelaide * 2011, ''What's in a face? aspects of portrait photography'', AGNSW * 2012, ''Home: Aboriginal Art from NSW'', AGNSW * 2015, ''The photograph and Australia'', Art Gallery of New South Wales * 2017, ''Mervyn Bishop'' (24 June – 8 October), a major retrospective at AGNSW"A matter of perspective"
by Christopher Allen, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'', 29 July 2017 and touring * 2019, ''Artist talk and exhibition'' (7 May – 22 June), Bank Art Museum Moree, New South Wales. *2021, ''Mervyn Bishop: The Exhibition'' by the

, drawn from the

collection, the artist's private archive, and enriched by sound and moving image from the NFSA

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Mervyn Australian photographers Indigenous Australian people 1945 births Living people Documentary photographers People from the Far West (New South Wales)