This website aims to provide an archive of Michael Riley’s photographic and film work. It features Riley’s major series and projects, along with other miscellaneous images and smaller series. However, not all of Riley’s work can be shown here. Some of his photographic series and films and videos, created over 20 years ago, are unavailable to be displayed, as negatives, images and films have either been lost or no longer exist.
While the website currently focuses on the artistic practice of the late Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi photographer, the Michael Riley Foundation aims to upload more of Riley’s photographic images and series in the future, such as his social documentary photographs.
Notes to the reader
There are several ways of spelling the term Kamilaroi, one of Michael Riley’s Aboriginal language and cultural groups. This website follows the spelling the artist identified with.
Most of the films and photographic series featured on this website are accompanied by Riley’s own words describing his approach and method. All artist quotes are taken from an interview conducted by Michael Riley Foundation Trustee and former curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Hetti Perkins, at AGNSW, Sydney, on 27 November 2003.
The Foundation has captioned all images featured on this website in full. These captions are relevant to the first edition, usually the exhibition edition, of the photograph. All measurements are in centimetres, height before width.
Since Riley created the series Portraits by a window in 1990 some of the sitters’ names have changed; for clarity, this information is noted in the image’s full caption.
The 1990 series A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries refers to sitters by their given names only. In order to create a comprehensive archive of Riley’s work, the Foundation welcomes any information people might have on the surnames of sitters.