Penny Tweedie
Penny Tweedie Photography
Having worked as a photographer in more than 50 countries it would be futile to attempt to summarise but a fraction of Penny Tweedie's achievements. This short DVD strives to enhance a brief yet quintessential time in her life as a photographer living amongst the Aboriginal Australians. Her portrayal of these people is both touching and revealing. The detail and the intimacy of her photographs are truly moving.
This DVD purports to effortlessly blend the vibrant colour and pathos of Penny's wonderful framed images with Marocana's rhythms and ethnic compositions in a short tribute to her work.
Penny Tweedie's legacy for the Aboriginal people is clear. For us we are left with the impression of a determined and resourceful personality devoted to her work; ever exploring, ever striving, ever true to her art.
I found myself irresistably drawn to Penny's time with the Aboriginal Australians. Inspired by the wealth and diversity of her photographic dialogue, the task of framing a succinct music visual as an accolade to Penny proved some challenge.
Penny's photographs and her account of her work betray both her integrity and her Innate understanding for the Aboriginal way of life. Just as Penny saw how these people "create images to satisfy their need for expression and decoration" she too seemed to crave dramatic impact with her own visual art.
Penny was at pains to demonstrate that, to them, "the land is their mother" and that they" live by their ancestral lives with their cycle of songs". Penny has surely, unwittingly, laid claim to a unique record of how the Australian Aboriginal people strive to exist and live their lives. Penny herself describes how her photographs have been absorbed by the families she met as a visual diary or their past; " so we can show our grandchildren and they can show their children". This was no easy achievement. It was hard earned. Penny Tweedie truly integrated with these people to study them in detail with both sensitivity and respect. She recounts ,with justifiable pride, how she" learned new bush skills and how to survive with mosquitoes, leeches and hungry dogs".
Hopefully this dvd, dedicated to her work, serves in some small way to encapsulate Penny's dynamic talent.
Clive Harvey