Regarded as one of Australia's leading feminist photographers, Eden resident Ruth Maddison has a long history of portrait and social documentary practice, starting in Melbourne in 1976.
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Relationships, working lives, and communities are explored in her large body of work, which is represented in major public collections and includes significant portrait documentation of the Eden community and commercial industries.
The Centre for Contemporary Photography (CCP) is currently showing a selection, alongside the many other subjects and projects Ruth has created over the last 45 years, together with a major new work in an exhibition titled, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".
After moving to Eden in 1996, Ruth completed three key projects locally between 2002 and 2014.
Eden's timber workers, fishermen and teenagers were the subjects of these three illuminating projects, later purchased by the State Library of NSW for its picture collection.
The current exhibition is a significant survey exhibition, which brings together key historical works with a major new commission.
Ruth said the representation of Eden in her work is an important part of the history of her work.
"When I moved to Eden I had never moved out of the city before, it became evident it was like parallel universe," she said.
"I felt a bit like, unless you had lived in both you aren't conscious of the reality of the other."
The first major project Ruth undertook in the town was commissioned by the Ministry for Planning and Environment and was a documentation of people and place for a Future Sustainable study being done.
She then produced "Now a river went out of Eden" in 2002, a series of black and white photos with text of teenagers.
"Eden teenagers were really interesting to me... with no tertiary education available in Eden, people who do go on to do that have to leave town, leave their support groups, family and friends.
"I found that who does or doesn't leave has a relationship to class, as its expensive. Then there is the lack of employment options in town, especially for girls and women. When I first moved here, there were a lot of teenage pregnancies.
"I was interested to know - what will they do, stay or go? Where did they see their future? What happens to a small town if the youth leave?
"Overall I would say the majority of people I talked with felt it's great to be a kid growing up in Eden, but once you hit your teens, there's nothing to do and lots of drugs. There was a mixed response to staying or going.
"Since then some have disappeared completely, some have gone and come back to raise their own families, and some never left."
A 2008 project "Girt by Sea" documented Eden's commercial fishermen past and present.
"Hanging around in the Australasia pub, guys would ask, 'Have you seen blah blah's photos on the boat?' and I discovered theirs was a workforce documenting their own work and workplace," Ruth said.
"Fishermen started bringing me shoeboxes of dirty little 6x4 prints, going back to 1930, Norm Joiner, one of the first white commercial fishermen in Eden."
"I resized, cleaned up and enhanced the existing images, which was one part of the project.
"I then photographed fishermen and asked them to tell me about what they did, the best and the worst of their work.
"Mal Rankin offered the use of his shed at Snug Cove to exhibit the work locally. We hung fishing net around the shed and clipped the photos up there," Ruth said.
The series was then exhibited at Cowra Regional Gallery and the State Library of NSW purchased the complete set. A selection is also in the collection of the National Library of Australia.
In 2014, Ruth shifted her focus to the timber industry and its workers, documenting at the sawmill and chipmill, for series "Can't see the forest for the trees'".
"I got in touch with the head honcho in both places. Remarkably, they opened their doors and in I went," she said.
"Those mills are kind of hidden from view, I had no idea of the nature of their work. I was interested in the work and the sites.
"I learnt and saw so much, they are incredible worksites."
"I always believe a work site is about a community of workers. Most people have pride in wanting to do their job well.
"Employment in a town like Eden is a tricky business. Not everyone is pro-industry and there are a wide range of responses, even within and amongst people in the industry.
"In my experience, people on both sides of the argument often exaggerate, don't listen to each other and tell lies of omission," Ruth said.
"Can't see the forest for the trees'' hasn't been shown publicly as a complete series but a selection is currently on show at CCP and also included in the State Library of NSW collection and the National Library of Australia.
The Eden series are presented alongside Ruth's documentation of the cultural milieu of Melbourne in the 1970s and 1980s, featuring portraits of leading writers, artists, theatre makers and musicians, other major documentary projects and a new body of work, "The fellow traveller, 2020".
The exhibition is on display at CCP until April 18, at 404 George Street Fitzroy.
This project has been assisted by the Australian government through the Australia Council, it's Arts funding and advisory body.
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Leah Szanto
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
