Group work … Photographic artist Simon Terrill prepared to shoot Crowd Theory Port of Melbourne, and residents of the West are being invited to take part.
By Bridie Byrne
DESPITE growing up on Ocean Island in the Pacific, some of Emeretta Cross’ favourite childhood memories were travelling annually on a cargo ship destined for Port Melbourne.
Now a resident of Williamstown, Ms Cross will revisit the docks with hundreds of others who share a connection to the port.
The Port of Melbourne (PoM) is the latest site for the community-focused photographic event called Crowd Theory.
The Footscray Community Arts Centre produces the project, which explores ideas of community and the nature of crowds. Ms Cross said having a large group come together at the port would be amazing to witness.
“My dad used to work for a British phosphate mining company and we would come down to Australia each year for about a month,” she said. “It would take 10 days to get there on a cargo ship. On the ship it was just my family and the mining crew and every time we docked it would be pitch black.”
Artist and Crowd Theory creator Simon Terrill said the port was chosen because he found what passed through fascinating.
“There is mystery and a strange allure to the innumerable shipping containers filled with the basics of our material lives,” he said. “The opportunity to work with the Port of Melbourne Corporation is a wild development for the Crowd Theory project.
“Within this land of giant machines and containers we aim to extract something of the human dimension of the site and put some faces to the many characters that make it work.
“It will involve diverse groups and spontaneous expressions and will be quite an elaborate shoot with a truck load of lights and prompts.”
Mr Terrill said the project was a convergence of all his interests.
“I have a background in theatre, taking photographs, and I am obsessed with the idea of crowds,” he said. “I am fascinated with groups and I find them interesting and open.”
The artist only takes 10 shots and one will be selected, but the shoot will last between two and three hours.
The resulting photograph will measure more than two metres in length and will represent a unique perspective of the port and its relationship to community.
Hundreds of people converged on two sites in Melbourne’s western suburbs in 2004 to participate in two large-scale photo shoots, Crowd Theory Footscray and Crowd Theory Braybrook.
Later projects Crowd Theory Footscray Station and Crowd Theory Southbank won critical acclaim, with the photographs touring locally, interstate and overseas. An invitation to be involved with Crowd Theory Port of Melbourne will be extended to those who use, work in and have long-standing links with the port.
To participate in Crowd Theory on 2 August, visit www.crowdtheory.com and fill in the registration form.
