Talhy Stotzer

This work continues an ongoing exploration into the intrinsic properties of the photographic medium, such as its de-materialising capabilities, its relationship to time and space, and its absent-presence.

Blending experimental analogue techniques with digital technology, this image is part of a series that explores photography as both material and immaterial, surface and spirit, document and abstraction.

During the tactile process of a Polaroid lift, the image becomes momentarily translucent, extremely fragile and malleable taking on new forms on different surfaces before if it is digitised and recirculated. It is a reminder of the ephemeral nature of both the photograph and what it temporarily captures.

Emulsion was exhibited at the 2025 COLLECTIVE exhibition, curated by the Perth Centre for Photography (PCP), Perth’s only dedicated photographic arts organisation.

COLLECTIVE is Western Australia’s largest open-themed photographic art event. Each year, COLLECTIVE brings together a diverse array of artistic visions from selected contributors across Australia and beyond, providing a dynamic space for the convergence of creativity, innovative thinking, multiple perspectives, and critical discourse.

The exhibition opened on 05 December 2025 at the PSP Art Space, in Fremantle.

The exhibition titled Autoluminescent, was a Western Australian photography tertiary survey that was displayed at the  Pingyao International Photography Festival. (PIP). The exhibition revealed how geographic isolation has fostered a distinctive photographic perspective while still maintaining global awareness.

Talhy Stotzer collaborated with curator Mike Gray to showcase the work of four Murdoch graduates alongside other top students from Western Australia’s leading tertiary photography programs.

Set in the Ancient City of Pingyao, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the festival draws over 100,000 visitors every year.

For Murdoch graduates, it was a unique opportunity to showcase their vision and connect with a global network of photographers and curators.

A series of nine of my images, titled "Ephemeral," were selected for Through the Lens – an exhibition which commemorated the history of ECU Mt Lawley, ahead of the move to its city location.

Experimenting with Polaroid transfers (an alternative analogue photographic process), this series explored themes of nostalgia and memory. When lifting the emulsion from the polaroid backing during a Polaroid transfer, the images become momentarily translucent, extremely fragile and malleable before they take on a new form on a different surface. It is a reminder of the ephemeral nature of both the photograph and what it temporarily captures. And like memories, these malleable images warp, stretch, and fragment, and will also fade and be re-shaped with the passing of time.

The works were selected by an international panel of acclaimed photographers, including Jerome Jehel (Paris, France) and Associate Professor Oh Soon Hwa (Singapore), and the exhibition was curated by Professor of Visual and Cultural Studies Panizza Allmark and Dr Duncan Barnes (ECU, Perth).

The series, Hands, was exhibited at the 2024 COLLECTIVE exhibition, curated by the Perth Centre for Photography (PCP). It explores photography’s history as a tool for visual classification. Since its beginnings, the camera has been used for witnessing and cataloguing in various disciplines such as anthropology, medicine, geography and criminology. This typology of hands comments on the use of photography as evidence, and questions the validity and reliability of photography as an objective record, particularly in our digital era. This work continues Talhy’s long-term exploration into photography, power and representation. COLLECTIVE is Western Australia’s largest open-themed photographic art event run by PCP. Each year, COLLECTIVE brings together a diverse array of artistic visions from selected contributors across Australia, and provides a haven for the convergence of creativity, innovative thinking, multiple perspectives, and critical discourse. Collectors and wider audiences are invited to experience the creativity and curiosity defining the contemporary photography of today's global environment. The Gallery exhibition was held in December 2024 at the PSP Art Space, in Fremantle, and the Digital exhibition will screen on the City of Perth Northbridge Piazza Superscreen in 2025. The Perth Centre for Photography (PCP) was established in 1992 and is Perth’s only dedicated photographic arts organisation. PCP’s aim is to promote and support emerging and established photo-based art in Western Australia, offering an environment that promotes an understanding and appreciation of contemporary photographic practices.

Old and new media coexist in this image made using the wet collodion process which dates to the 1850s. The chemistry from this technique has left some ethereal traces on the plate. This creates an aesthetic reminiscent of a previous era and appears anachronistic with the more modern audio technology depicted in the image.  The natural and technological are also entangled within the work. The natural curves and ridges of the shell have been etched by the rhythm of the ocean, while the sleek lines of the headphones evoke contemporary life.

The image was selected for the cover of Continuum’s special edition: Mapping the Music and Video Streaming Landscape and its Disruptions in Southeast Asia.

This series of on-location portraits of Bangladeshi women in uniform aim to expand the visibility of women’s contribution in the workforce, beyond their work at home. Women in Bangladesh still face many economic challenges. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (2022), Bangladeshi women are less likely than men to participate in the labor force (42.5% vs. 81.3%), and women in urban settings face higher unemployment rates than those in rural areas. The wage gap between men and women remains in favour of men who, on average, earn 35.8% more per hour than women do.

Five portraits were exhibited at the 36th annual conference of the International Visual Sociology Association in Paris‐Saclay (France). IVSA is a nonprofit, democratic, and academically oriented professional organization devoted to the visual study of society, culture, and social relationships. Women’s Work contributed to the conference, themed “Visualizing the Political Process”, by using portraiture to visually investigate some counter-narratives related to gender. The work continues Talhy’s long-term exploration into photography, power, and representation.

Photography can be a powerful tool for self-expression. For those who are less empowered in our community, such as children, photography can provide a voice through images. It is a form of creativity that can provide a new way of seeing. This article examines the potential of photovoice as a meaningful way to develop critical thinking and communication approaches. Photovoice is a method of participatory action research that is innovative in the ways by which it enables participants to identify and represent their surroundings. Photovoice has been used in anthropology, public health, social work and education, and is associated with empowerment and valuing subjective experience. For this article, we draw upon the outcomes of photography workshops held with children whose families are the recipients of welfare support, and who have agreed to participate in the Hand Up: Disrupting the Communication of Intergenerational Poverty Linkage project. We examine the processes of photovoice, in which every child’s perspective is valued. The children are active participants, empowered through capturing images through professional cameras, selecting and editing their work and, importantly, talking about their photographs, all of which encourage engagement in critical consciousness. There was also a focus on the directness of communication, in the way personal thoughts and ideas were handwritten alongside the photographs produced. In particular, we were interested in the significance for the children of creating a photo album. In our age of digital images, which are viewed on screen, the children were given photo prints, and had a new tactile experience as well as a lasting reminder of their personal photographs, which could be shared and discussed.

This work was exhibited as part of Seeking Asylum in Country: Western Australian Landscape, an event that contributed to broader conversations about finding refuge in Western Australia. Talhy's photograph, Land of Milk and Honey explores the Western Australian landscape as both a site of potential refuge and underlying hostility. The symbolic gift-bringing figure and the honey sign in the foreground represent ideals of hope and promise of a bountiful land. Visual cues of discomfort and degradation, however, suggest that this so-called “promised land” may be far from welcoming. The thick red velvet suit seems to conflict with the heat of the land, and the honey sign has been weathered by the harsh environment. This symbolic representation of an individual being at odds with their new environment refers to the post-migration stressors experienced by refugee resettling in Australia, an area of increased focus in recent research (Murray, 2008). Population displacement and global warming are among the most pressing challenges faced globally, and the accompanying forum for this event featured panel discussions with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, who shared who shared experiences of finding asylum in country.

The exhibition and forum was held at PS Art Space in Fremantle, Western Australia.

The series Proxemics in China examines the need to re- evaluate and re-negotiate notions of space during long-term field work in China. As a middle-class Australian who grew up in the sprawled city of Perth, Talhy explores different perceptions of personal space, and the challenges faced when living in the world’s most populated country.

The work draws from American anthropologist Edward Hall (1966) who is renowned for developing ‘Proxemics’, the study of the subjective dimensions that surround each person and the physical distances they try to keep from other people according to subtle cultural and social rules. Through photographic visual inquiry, Talhy’s research contributes to an understanding of how these spaces vary cross-culturally and between social classes.

The work was selected to be part of the Locations exhibition held at Spectrum Gallery in Perth, Western Australia. The exhibition sought to explore the course and methods artists use to arrive at the selection and photographic rendering of specific locations.

Paili is part of a portrait series that investigates the representation of Hijra in Bangladesh. The Hijra, also known as the ‘third gender, have existed for centuries in the Indian subcontinent, yet they are severely marginalised from Bangladeshi society. At the time these images were taken, the majority of Hijra in Bangladesh had been excluded from the most recent census because they did not fit into the approved categories, and many were therefore rendered invisible. During a five-week field trip, Talhy collaborated with Hijra from two communities on the outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka, inviting community members to take self-portraits with a remote cable. By taking self-portraits, the Hijra in Talhy’s work chose how they wanted to represent themselves. Individual stories of struggle and survival were also recorded as part of the project. The selected photographic work challenges existing representations of Hijra, which are often sensationalised and sexualised. The series contributes to contemporary reflections on the power of photographic portraiture to call into question established social hierarchies by negotiating control through participant consent and self-portraiture.

Paili was selected for the 12th IRIS award, held by Perth Centre of Photography (PCP) and exhibited at the PCP gallery in Northbridge. PCP is Western Australia’s premier photo-media gallery and every two years hosts the IRIS Award, an important platform and incubator for non-traditional portraiture in Australia. The committee, according to Gallery Coordinator Christine Tomas, seeks “artistic excellence, conceptualism, and image quality.” Talhy was a selected finalist in this national award for unique and outstanding portraiture in a photo-based medium.