"Alice"2005, archival inkjet print
Viewing the staged portraits in Graham Miller's "Suburban Splendour" exhibition reminded me, perhaps not coincidentally, of American Splendour, both the comic by Pekar and Crumb, and the film of the same name: they are narratives of everyday life filled with the stuff that makes living sometimes so unbearable: the moments of pain, loneliness, alienation, frustration, emptiness and unhappiness experienced by all. Yet these moments must be endured, and it is this universal endurance, the experiences that we have all shared with the subjects of Miller's portraits, that make his photographs so compelling.
Suburban Splendour" is a collection of portraits (and photographs of suburban settings) that are powerful in their own right but when viewed together, display an unabating sense of tension and intensity and, disturbingly so, underlying hopelessness. The portraits may not be to everyone's tastes and many of them can be seen to be quite bleak (where does Miller find his participants?) - but the incidents and emotions they chronicle are rivetting.
The focus of Miller's photography here is reminiscent of some of Tracey Moffatt's work - certainly her "Scarred for Life" series in some respects, where one gains the disquieting awareness that something quite awful or terrible has occurred or will occur in the scene depicted, and waits with bated breath for it to unfold. The fact that it doesn't makes it all the more unbearable. The photograph entitled "Annie" could almost be deemed homage to Moffat's Something More series. Coincidentally, "Annie" is wearing a red dress too, and finds herself seeking to escape a landscape of hopelessness, disrepair and despair. Whereas Moffat's heroine finds release in a shocking, yet inevitable demise, there is nothing but determination and hope on Annie's face as she looks into the distance, just as Moffatt's heroine had done.
"Suburban Splendour" comes highly recommended; it's rare when a local photographer is able to create images that so starkly resonate with the zeitgeist of our own urban and suburban realities. The photographs are splendid; the splendour within them, ironic and ultimately sad. Yet amongst them, we see glimmerings of hope of escape and renewal: in the gazes of Miller's subjects as they look through partially drawn curtains into the sunlight or, in Annie's case, into the light of the rising sun.
"Suburban Splendour" opens at the Turner Gallery on July 6th and runs until August 4.
TURNER GALLERIES
470 William Street, NORTHBRIDGE
July 6 to August 4 2007.
Gallery Opening Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 5pm.
