This poster for a good friend, film photographer Pinga Matereke, is one of those rare instinctual works. While telling me about his latest collaborative exhibition at the Schmick Contemporary Gallery in Chinatown, Sydney. Titled ‘Taking Root’ and the story of Owen and himself, asking the question…
“what does it mean to produce art for a culture that did not produce you?”
Assuming the role of a National Geographic photographer. Pinga documents the concrete jungle of Sydney. Its culture and its mysterious ways from the perspective of someone not born into it. Pinga was born in Zimbabwe and later moved to Australia. From this, the design’s building blocks emerged. Images of a camouflaged photographer in a ghillie suit, lying in wait, watching as people go past, in stark contrast to the concrete jungle of Sydney. I found added a bit of humour to the work.
This striking image, mixed with imagery of Zimbabwe, a woman and a stamp from my father’s global stamp collection, completed the work nicely. A motif of travel from Zimbabwe to Australia. Collaged together to produce depth that stands out to the viewer.
The font is simple, a personal favourite of mine, plus Jakarta Sans coloured in the same yellow that National Geographic uses, to reinforce the National Geographic idea without being too blatant or overcrowding the image.
