Video by Gerrit Fokema for memorial event Powerhouse Museum May 2023
Wesley Stacey passed away in February 2023. Here’s a quick summary of what he did. A more comprehensive list is on Photo Web.
Wesley started as a graphic designer in the early 1960s, and moved quickly into photography. Was recognised early with an exhibition in London. He then moved back to Sydney and worked mostly taking architectural and fashion magazine photos. He assisted in starting the Australian Centre for Photography. He worked with Phillip Cox and others making Australian architectural books and doing many exhibitions.
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In 1978 Wesley moved to the bush near Bermagui and also changed focus to photograph the landscape. He travelled Australia and the world on various photographic projects. These projects included a lobbying book to stop damage to Aboriginal sacred sites, and many books and exhibitions.
He left the archive to me, Blake Stacey. This included many prints he had made over the years. These prints have been digitised with the help of Narelle and are here for general viewing, and if requested I can supply as a print or sell the image digitally.
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Wesley never wanted to go into digital photography, “digital smidgital!”. So to preserve the prints we have, and make them easy to view, I wanted to digitise them.
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The archive physically consists of these prints, plus negatives, and many small books. There is a lot more to add to this archive, in particular work prints from the 1960s.
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There are many things Wesley has done that are not on this archive. For example, The Road exhibition, which is in the National Gallery Canberra.
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Donations have recently been made to The State Library of NSW, and The Canberra Art Gallery.
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The Renee Ellis Archive has also been a source of inspiration for putting this archive together.
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