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Matthew Klugman writer and an Australian research Council DECRA Fellow, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living, Victoria University, Melbourne.
A Forgotten Picture : Race, Photographs and Cathy Freeman at the Northcote Koori Mural2019single work criticism — Appears in:
Journal of Australian Studies,vol.
43no.
22019;(p. 203-217)'A dramatic photograph, published in 1994, depicted Australian athlete Cathy Freeman running at Northcote's Koori Mural in inner-north Melbourne, beneath scenes of Aboriginal elders in chains in the late nineteenth century. Two months later, she famously posed for photographs carrying the Aboriginal flag in a victory lap following her win in the 400 metres at the Commonwealth Games. While the flag photographs remain an iconic image of sport and race in Australia, the Northcote photograph is forgotten. This article explores the history of the Northcote photograph—its background, the image itself, and the aftermath of publication. We analyse the discursive contexts of exposure and elision: unlike the flag pictures, which spoke to the present and to a recognised and saleable discourse (national pride), the Northcote mural image pointed to a more difficult and less palatable discursive relationship with the past (racism, abuse and disenfranchisement).'
'It is one of Australia’s most iconic images. On 17 April 1993, the Indigenous AFL footballer Nicky Winmar stood up against racial abuse and made history. Facing the Collingwood crowd that had taunted him all day the St Kilda player pulled up his shirt, pointed to his chest and declared: ‘I’m black and I’m proud to be black’.
'Published the next day, the photos of Winmar’s gesture sparked an intense debate that forced the AFL, the fans and the nation to confront their prejudices head-on.
'Black and Proud takes us behind the searing image to the stories of those who made it happen – the Indigenous team-mates Nicky Winmar and Gilbert McAdam and the two photographers, Wayne Ludbey and John Feder. Bound by a love of the game, the four were brought together by acts of courage and vilification that show how far we have come and just how far we have to go.'