Passage
The Art of Atong Atem
Will be published approx. on 29. September 2026
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-76076-562-0 (ISBN)
Description
A major monograph on one of Australia's most exciting photographers.
Passage: The Art of Atong Atem is the first major monograph on acclaimed South Sudanese-Australian artist Atong Atem. A vivid exploration of migration, memory and the making of identity, it traces her journey from South Sudan to Australia's east coast, revealing how family, storytelling and image-making shape her richly staged portraits. Working across photography, video and textiles, Atem reimagines the intimacy of portraiture. Her signature framing devices - small portals hovering over her subjects' faces -invite us to look again, through a lens that is at once surreal and deeply personal. Drawing on the legacies of such African studio photographers as Malick Sidibé, Philip Kwame Apagya and Seydou Keïta, she constructs lush tableaux that probe diaspora, postcolonial identity and the meaning of home.
Lavishly illustrated and featuring new essays by leading international voices, Passage is an essential volume on one of the most compelling artists of her generation.
Passage: The Art of Atong Atem is the first major monograph on acclaimed South Sudanese-Australian artist Atong Atem. A vivid exploration of migration, memory and the making of identity, it traces her journey from South Sudan to Australia's east coast, revealing how family, storytelling and image-making shape her richly staged portraits. Working across photography, video and textiles, Atem reimagines the intimacy of portraiture. Her signature framing devices - small portals hovering over her subjects' faces -invite us to look again, through a lens that is at once surreal and deeply personal. Drawing on the legacies of such African studio photographers as Malick Sidibé, Philip Kwame Apagya and Seydou Keïta, she constructs lush tableaux that probe diaspora, postcolonial identity and the meaning of home.
Lavishly illustrated and featuring new essays by leading international voices, Passage is an essential volume on one of the most compelling artists of her generation.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Fisherman's Bend
Australia
Illustrations
150 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 303 mm
Width: 235 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-76076-562-0 (9781760765620)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Atong Atem (b. 1994) has exhibited widely across Australia, and internationally at Tate Modern, London, Rotterdam's Wereldmuseum, Fotografiska Shanghai and with PHOTO Australia at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Atem's work is featured in a permanent exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of the Netherlands.