Ella Dreyfus
Photographic Artist & Educator
Dr Ella Dreyfus is a Contemporary Artist, Senior Lecturer and Head of Public Programs at the National Art School, Sydney.
Ella’s photographic work engages with representations of identity. She endeavours to find ways to depict and empower those who do not conform to the dominant aesthetic standards. Hovering between fine art and documentary photography, her images embrace the ordinary, striking a rich source of humanity, compassion and emotional resonance.
Her black and white photographs are an exploration of the human body when its condition appears to threaten the social order. At certain times of life and in certain conditions, the tenuous nature of the relationship between the body and its borders and boundaries are disturbed. A person’s response to their changing physical condition may challenge their self-perception, identity and sense of mortality.
Dreyfus’ images show respect towards and bestow dignity upon her naked subjects, all of whom consented to her work. The unseen, loss of visibility, acceptability and identity are issues that have been central to Dreyfus’ work.
