Ruth Maddison - Photographer and visual artist

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Ruth Maddison's visual work spans 5 decades. Her first photography exhibition was in Melbourne in 1979 and the collection was purchased complete by the National Gallery of Victoria.

Self-taught, Ruth was introduced to the camera and photo processing at the age of 30 by her house-mate Ponch Hawkes. She photographed people that she knew, processing the film and she quickly began getting paid work. Subsequent commissions and exhibitions replicated her success. 

Ruth moved to Eden on the south coast of NSW in the mid-90s and the location has influenced her work profoundly. Living in a small town, she photographed the lives of the community including teenagers, fisherman and the local chipping/sawmill industries, as well as documenting the landscape with polaroids, lumen prints and camera-less photography.

Fascinated by the lives of ordinary people, Ruth's work has moved beyond photography and now includes other image making. Her recent show at SECCA in Bega exhibited covid-related embroidered doilies, stained by unknown families and her grandmother's tablecloth. 

Ruth is still working.

{Last seconds: Sound of a wave crashing onto Aslings Beach in Eden}

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Are You Still Working?! is an independently produced, ad-free podcast presented by Courtney Collins and produced by Lisa Madden.

Music: We are grateful for permission to use the track 'My Operator', by Time for Dreams.