REVIEW BY JIM MCILROY

“Old men send young men to die”, is one of the stated themes of the riveting exhibition of photographs by veteran British photojournalist Tim Page, now resident in Australia, held in the Brisbane Powerhouse during February 3-27.

The exhibition of 262 photos, From War to Peace — Revolutions, Revelations, Resolutions, is the most comprehensive of his photographic work ever. It gave him “a chance to show the horrific experience of war”, Page told Green Left Weekly on February 12. “It’s the first time I’ve designed my own show. It’s a kind of personal catharsis, covering wars and upheavals all around the world.”

The photos cover Page’s entire career, from Laos in 1964, through Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1960s and 1970s, the Middle East war in 1967, to other parts of Asia and Africa, to Australia and New Zealand in recent years. Page was wounded five times in action, and declared dead on arrival in hospital twice during the Vietnam War.

In the 1980s, Page spent some time living and working in Cuba, which he explained was the only country at that time that refused to bow down to the US’s way of doing things.

“Ultimately, any good war photograph becomes anti-war. Only from a distance, or through the sanitising filter of television, does war take on the majesty of ballet; up close it hurts and smells of death. War is against all things human — ask anyone who’s ever been there.”

[Visit <http://www.timpage.com.au>.]

From Green Left Weekly, March 16, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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