Australian photojournalist Michael Coyne is probably best known for his photographs of the Iran Iraq War in the 1980s, a period in which he was incredibly prolific and a time when his photographs made the covers of international magazines. Coyne, who has spent much of his life traversing the globe with camera in hand, has recently returned from Papua New Guinea where he was working on his long-term photographic project about the world’s villages.
This time while he was out in the field he experimented with his iPhone. “I was a bit sceptical about using it as a camera, but in the end the iPhone is just the same as any other capturing device. I was working on my village book going from village to village and decided I’d use the iPhone to capture random moments”.
The result is an engaging collection of informal portraits of villagers including, a headhunter, mask makers and a village elder, whose voice runs over the series of photos. Coyne says the elder “was singing a song. We discovered that he was the last of his clan who knew the traditional language of his people and that it would die with him”.
EXHIBITION
Michael Coyne’s Papua New Guinea
Until 23 June 2013
The Muse Gallery
TAFE Ultimo
Harris Street
Ultimo Sydney
Australia
