Leave only footprints

A survey exhibition by leading photo media artist Tamara Dean.
25 November 2022 to 19 February 2023

‘For as long as I can remember I have yearned to be in nature. When I enter a forest I feel as though I have come home.’ – Tamara Dean

Emerging from the depths of nature Dean’s practice examines the human condition. Leave only footprints is the first survey of the critically acclaimed photo media artist and spans more than twenty years of her photographic practice. This immersive exhibition incorporates scent, photography, installation and the moving image to create an environment that engages the senses.

Dean’s career began as a photojournalist for the Sydney Morning Herald (2001–14). She was renowned for finding the quieter, more introspective moments between subject and photographer. Her exploration of our shifting emotional states continues to evolve and these themes now occupy her large-scale performative photographic practice.

‘I create symbolically charged works which aim to bridge the separateness that we as humans create in our minds between ourselves and nature.’ – Tamara Dean

Dean’s practice transitioned from documentary to conceptual photography after the arrival of her first child. It transformed her practice into one that explores the primacy of nature and our connectedness to it and to each other. Leave only footprints spans over 11 key bodies of work that explore transitional moments in our lives; rites of passage, rituals and motherhood, and is underpinned by the artist’s longing and desire to be within and to protect nature.

Curator: Anouska Phizacklea, MGA Director