Michael Riley

A Common Place displays 15 dramatic portraits of Moree Murries taken by Michael Riley, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous contemporary artists.

In 1990, returning to his home town in country NSW, Michael established an outdoor studio and friends, family and community members could opt in to be photographed. The resulting images challenge the relationship between photographer and photographed.

Ten smaller silver gelatine prints were acquired by the Library in 1993 from the Boomalai Art Collective – printed and signed by Michael, they are distinct from the larger prints presented at the Moree Art Gallery. In 2016 the Library acquired five images as archival prints to complete the set.