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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.

The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

Ali Cobby Eckermann and Lionel Fogarty at the Hawkesbury River

2014
Juno Gemes

inkjet print on paper, edition A/P (sheet: 42.7 cm x 58.3 cm, image: 33.7 cm x 50.3 cm)

Ali Cobby Eckermann (b. 1963), Yankunytjatjara/Kothaka author and poet, was adopted as a baby in Melbourne and ran away to Central Australia as a teenager. After studying creative writing in Alice Springs, Cobby Eckermann published her first collection of poetry, Little Bit Long Time, in 2009, followed by His Father's Eyes (2011) and Ruby Moonlight (2012), which won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for poetry and was named the book of the year at the 2013 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Her memoir Too Afraid to Cry (2013) and poetry collection Inside my Mother (2015) explored her trauma and journey to reconnect with her family and culture. Lionel Fogarty (b. 1958), Yugambeh/Kudjela poet and activist, became involved in Indigenous rights in the early 1970s, working with the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Aboriginal Housing Service, campaigning for land rights and protesting against Aboriginal deaths in custody – his eighteen-year-old brother, Daniel, died in police custody in Brisbane in 1993. Fogarty's first collection of poetry, Kargun, was published in 1980, and he has since published a further twelve volumes. His politically charged poems are interweaved with Indigenous languages and reflect his love for his people and Country.

During a visit to the Hawkesbury River home of their friends, photographer Juno Gemes and poet Robert Adamson, Cobby Eckermann and Fogarty were photographed by Gemes near Cheero Point.

Purchased 2015
© Juno Gemes/Copyright Agency, 2024

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Juno Gemes (age 70 in 2014)

Ali Cobby Eckermann (age 51 in 2014)

Lionel Fogarty (age 56 in 2014)

Subject professions

Activism

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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ABN: 54 74 277 1196

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.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency