The Percivals 2020

Janet Tavener: My name is Janet Taverner and I'm a practicing artist who exhibits with MAY SPACE in Sydney. I started my art career in 1978 when I enrolled in an art certificate at the Sydney Technical College. Photography was a compulsory first year subject.

Back in the day, you spent most of your time in the black-and-white darkroom making prints from pre-graded paper. You buy a packet of grade 2 or grade 3. It was long before the multigrade system was brought in.

There were no OHS regulations, no gloves or tongs were supplied. In fact, you were told to put your hands in the developer and rub if the print needed to be darker in a particular area. It was hands in the developer and the cast of wine in the photographic department's fridge.

Interviewer: What was your first ever portrait?

My first ever portrait was a pinhole camera image of myself sitting in the sun in a hippie skirt in 1978. I went on to what was then known as City Art Institute and COFA to do BA post-grad and finding my MFA in the mid-90s.

I had my first photographic solo exhibition in 1985. The Sydney Technical College was the beginning of my art education but basically, I spent my whole adult making and teaching art.

Interviewer: Why did you choose to enter Ben & Saki?

Ben Fulcher caught my eyes several years ago when I met him at his mother's exhibition opening. I found him to be incredibly engaging. I would also occasionally see photos of him and Saki on Facebook.

I was struck by their presence as a couple. They are physically so different in appearance but at the same time, a perfect match. They have the most beautiful baby daughter now. I didn't pre-plan the image. I hadn't been to their apartment before; I just responded to them in their own environment.

Interviewer: In terms of portrait prizes, there are many conversations right now about the merits of expanded portraiture. Do you view the portrait as an established set of conventions, or do you look for new ways to explore the portrait?

Janet Tavener: When I was asked this question about expanded portraiture, my first reaction was to plead the Fifth Amendment. There's been a lot of discussion in recent years about it and many photographers have been looking for new ways to expand their vision.

For me, it's whether or not the work makes the connection. I remember work titled A Dry Argument by Dean Sewell that won the Moran Prize in 2009. Years of prolonged drought combined with overregulation and water allocation left the Murray–Darling Basin and Australia's most important series of rivers and water courses in a state of crisis.

His image shows an abandoned jetty that should have had water floating around it but there wasn't a drop in sight. We see the sun umbrella, a seat, a table, the dinky sits on dry land with grass growing where the water once was. The sky is dark and ominous, predicting the perfect storm.

For me, this is a portrait of all of us without a person in sight, so if this is expanded portraiture, I think it's a great image and I think it really describes all of us and the crisis that we're in at the moment with the environment.

But for me, I do follow an established set of conventions. In fact, I pretty much follow the same formula every time.

Interviewer: What influences your work?

My portrait compositions have been influenced by Diane Arbus, but definitely not the content. I believe that Diane Arbus's portraits speak more about her state of mind and her view of the world than they do about the subjects, but I do enjoy the simplicity and the symmetry of the subject being placed in the centre of the image.

Interviewer: Can you tell us about your choice of body language?

Janet Tavener: If body language is the unspoken element of communication that we use to reveal our true feelings and emotions, our gestures, facial expressions and posture, I would like to think that Ben and Saki are actually really quite comfortable in their own environment and comfortable with being photographed because their gaze is so direct and intense.

Interviewer: Is there something you can't live without in your camera bag?

Janet Taverner: I can't live without spare batteries in my camera bag; AAA, AA, Skyport and camera batteries are an essential item. You can delete images off your memory card to make space, but if your batteries are dead, you're gone.

Interviewer: What's the best advice you have been given about being an artist?

I think that the best piece of advice that I'd ever been given as an artist was when an art lecturer told me not to be afraid of it. I think that it was great advice but incredibly difficult to take on.

Interviewer: What are some of the challenges with displaying your work to the public?

One of the biggest challenges of exhibiting artwork is covering the cost of the production. One week before finding out that I'd won the Percival Photographic Portrait Prize, I was having a crisis about the amount of money it took to produce it and transport it to the Gallery, just under $1,000.

I can remember grumbling about how I was never going to win and what an expensive CV entry it was. One week later, I took it all back. The thing is, you just never know when you're going to get lucky.

Interviewer: Do you have a favourite photographic portrait in the exhibition?

My favourite photographic portrait in the exhibition is by Brian Casey. It's the portrait of the great-grandparents with two little girls. If I was judging, he would have won.