Leave only footprints by Tamara Dean

© Tamara Dean. Night garden 2020, from the series, High jinks in the hydrangeas. Pigment ink-jet print 75.0 x 100.0 cm. Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022.
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin)
© Tamara Dean. Night garden 2020, from the series, High jinks in the hydrangeas. Pigment ink-jet print 75.0 x 100.0 cm. Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin)

Emerging from the depths of nature, Tamara Dean’s practice examines the human condition. Leave only footprints is the first survey of the critically acclaimed photo media artist and spans more than twenty years of her photographic practice. This immersive exhibition incorporates scent, photography, installation, and the moving image to create an environment that engages the senses.

© Tamara Dean. Tumbling through the treetops 2020, from the series High jinks in the hydrangeas. Pigment ink-jet print 110.0 x 160.0 cm.
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022. 
Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).
© Tamara Dean. Tumbling through the treetops 2020, from the series High jinks in the hydrangeas. Pigment ink-jet print 110.0 x 160.0 cm. Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).

Dean’s career began as a photojournalist for the Sydney Morning Herald (2001–14). She was renowned for finding the quieter, more introspective moments between subject and photographer. Her exploration of our shifting emotional states continues to evolve and these themes now occupy her large-scale performative photographic practice.

© Tamara Dean. I've always wondered when soon is 2022, from the series, Palace of dreams. Pigment ink-jet print 160.0 x 120.0 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).
© Tamara Dean. I've always wondered when soon is 2022, from the series, Palace of dreams. Pigment ink-jet print 160.0 x 120.0 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).

Dean’s practice transitioned from documentary to conceptual photography after the arrival of her first child. It transformed her practice into one that explores the primacy of nature and our connectedness to it and to each other. Leave only footprints spans over eleven key bodies of work that explore transitional moments in our lives; rites of passage, rituals and motherhood, and is underpinned by the artist’s longing and desire to be within and to protect nature.

© Tamara Dean. Ebenezer rock drop 2015, from the series, The edge. Pigment ink-jet print 75.0 x 100.0 cm. Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).
© Tamara Dean. Ebenezer rock drop 2015, from the series, The edge. Pigment ink-jet print 75.0 x 100.0 cm. Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection, donated by Tamara Dean 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Gallery (Sydney + Berlin).

To attend the launch on 27 November, RSVP at this link.

Curator: Anouska Phizacklea, MGA Director

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November

Brisbane: Until 13 July 2025. Amateur Brisbane photographer Alfred Henrie Elliott (1870-1954) extraordinary images lay dormant for decades until they were discovered only recently. This exhibition is curated by seven Brisbane photographers.

Sydney: The photographs in Max Dupain: Student Life were taken at the University of Sydney in the early 1950s, a period of rapid change marked by the politics of the Cold War.

Perth: Until 18 May 2025. Henry Roy – Impossible Island draws on 40-years of recollections and observations as it brings together 113 photos taken from 1983 to 2023.

December

Melbourne: Until 31 January. Prepare to be transported into the picturesque world of Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition—an Instagram sensation and New York Times best-selling book brought to life!

Sydney: 5 December – 1 February. Photofields presents the Southern Sky Astrophotography 2024 exhibition, the 20th edition of the David Malin Awards.

Melbourne: until 16 Feb 2025. Petrina Hicks works with photography to create large-scale photographs that draw from mythology, fables, and historical art imagery to reframe the contemporary female experience.

Sydney: Until 31 Dec 2025. PIX, Australia’s first pictorial news weekly, is brought to life in this exhibition, showcasing its archived images and stories for the very first time.