Henri Cartier-Bresson's legacy of the "decisive moment" had a profound impact on photography. As a cofounder of the photographic cooperative Magnum Photos in 1947, his philosophy influenced a whole generation of photojournalists, and, for decades, Magnum photographers were instrumental in constructing the popular impression of reality. They crafted a collective memory of history as a set of succinct narratives told through images captured in the briefest of instants.
With the growth of digital technology and developments in "photomedia" since the '80s, contemporary artists have rethought the role of time in photography. With this in mind, the curators of "Trace Elements: Spirit and Memory in Japanese and Australian Photomedia" have brought together 10 artists from Australia and Japan for a heady exhibition that is meant to address the notion of photomedia as a "memory- creation device."
"Trace Elements" was born out of the 2006 Australia-Japan Year of Exchange, which saw hundreds of events take place in the two countries. Two key exhibitions were "Re:search — Art Collaboration between Australia and Japan" held at the Sendai Mediatheque and "Rapt! 20 Contemporary Artists from Japan," held at venues across Australia. Several of the artists in "Trace Elements" encountered each other during these two exhibitions.
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