Making sense of a city

His new exhibition, Sense Of A City, is an array of stunning high-quality prints taken in the city of Sydney. Not only do they capture the sense and spirit of the city, on closer inspection they portray a sense of time and place and the people in them are a symbol of existence. “You might notice in my photographs, the working class of Sydney,” says Jack. “I quite like photographing the character and the interest in the faces of ordinary people.”

And he certainly can, as evidenced by his last exhibition, Come As You Are, which featured a stack of local identities. “I asked them to come as they are, how I saw them,” he says. The photographs featured local people doing extraordinary things, including a woman who lives across the road from Jack, who walks her four dogs with her parasol each day.

From his neighbours to the city that surrounds him, Jack is often motivated by his left-leaning politics as someone who is concerned about social justice and the environment. “If I can use my photography to make some sort of social improvement I will,” he says.

Other people have their own ways of campaigning for what they believe in but for Jack it’s all in his photography. “That’s my contribution so I’m more than happy to do it and continue to do it.” He reveals that everything he knows about photography is self-taught and most of what he produces he generously gives to non-government organisations and local newspapers, like the SSH. 

Having covered a broad section of Sydney Jack believes there are still shots waiting to be snapped. “There’re still photographs of the Harbour Bridge that haven’t been taken. Everyone will photograph something slightly different. I’m sure someone’s going to come up one day with a view of the Harbour Bridge that no one’s ever seen.”

For Redfern, the community Jack lives in, there are some things he wants to stay the same, like the friendly faces he lives among. However, he has hopes that the Block in Redfern becomes a centre for Indigenous art and culture and “becomes a vibrant and healthy place for Aboriginal people to live”.  No doubt the images he produces will always have a place in Redfern.

With substantial support from Pixel Perfect Pro Lab, Jack is displaying his work, Sense Of A City at Regard Gallery, 372 Wilson St Darlington from June 13–29.

Photo: Jack Carnegie