Digital Catalogue: 2024 Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award
Chris Budgeon
b. 1955 Red Deer Canada, lives Melbourne VIC
UNTITLED_2267, 2023
archival pigment print
edition 1/8
Image courtesy of the artist © Chris Budgeon
Artist Statement
UNTITLED_2667 is from the project Dark Waters, a visual exploration of faith and rituals that attempts to negotiate the uneasy union of the mortal and the holy.
The image resonates with the power of formative memories. An early swimming lesson tainted by the terrors of the deep. A Mississippi baptism seen in passing. Two poles of the sacred and the arcane connected by febrile imaginings of alien depths.
These visions of an uncertain hope remind us that faith is needed, but questions linger.
About the Artist
Born and raised into a Canadian military family, early life for Chris Budgeon was in constant transit. Photography eventually emerged as an artistic expression to process newly-discovered art and culture found in Europe.
That interest developed into the documentation of the punk and alternate music scenes around London, Toronto, Montreal and New York. By the early eighties, a chance opportunity to shoot in Calcutta led to the meeting of Mother Teresa, Mary Ellen Mark and film director Satyajit Ray.
The die was cast for a life in photography where those humanist influences continue to resonate throughout his photographic practice.
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