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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Boy watching a man play billiards, 1970

Carol Jerrems

gelatin silver photograph on paper (image: 16.5cm x 24.7cm. frame: 43.2cm x 58.5cm)
Boy watching a man play billiards, 1970

Jerrems’ acuity for keen observation as well as her penchant for figures whose bodies bend and curve are apparent in this photograph. A pool player is in motion, arm outstretched, his cue making a diagonal slash across the picture plane, yet it is the young boy leaning against the wall behind him who stills the moment and holds the camera’s gaze. His stance appears confident beyond his years, a posturing that may be unwitting or performative. Jerrems would go on to experiment with the way masculinity is visually coded, and undone, throughout her career.

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Mrs Joy Jerrems 1981.
© The Estate of Carol Jerrems

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Carol Jerrems: Portraits

Previous exhibition, 2024

Carol Jerrems: Portraits is a major exhibition of one of Australia’s most influential photographers. Jerrems’ intimate portraits of friends, lovers and artistic peers transcend the purely personal and have come to shape Australian visual culture.
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The National Portrait Gallery building front entrance
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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