'Skipton My Town'

 

'Skipton my Town’ was a project I undertook with  the Skipton Primary School students in regional Victoria. The students were asked to take 'selfies' along with a written  expression on why they liked living in Skipton. A selection of images is shown on this page. The project  was  complied during the celebration year of Skipton’s 175th Anniversary in 2014.

 

This small rural school, established in 1856 is located in the small township of Skipton, population 480, in the Western District of Victoria, 55 kilometres southwest of Ballarat and 165 kilometres from Melbourne.

 

Agriculture is the main source of employment for local families with approximately 70% of Skipton’s student population living on farms. The school has a total enrolment of 96 students and caters for years prep to grade 6. The principle of the school Corey Polhner initiated the introduction of ipads to all students.

 

The students are shaped to a degree by the context in which they live, of  a small farm -centred life. Many of the farm students have been known to stay away from school to help on the farm. The demagraphics of the town  where weather plays a role in getting to school and where fires or  floods have an inpact on the people. 

 

This farm life is evident in the interests of students shown in each image. The combination of pride, simplicity and stoicism is evident in those that make their living from the earth.

 

The town has 2 churches, 1 supermarket, 1 bank, 1 second hand furniture odds and ends, 1 pub that is closed, 1 Landmark farm supplier,. It is a town where an  event effects everyone. With the floods of 2011 the school closed for 2 days.

 

The voices of youth are not often heard in the country, but these 'selfies' hope to give an insight into the world of primary students living in regional Victoria, their likes and interests. 

 

The selfie has become a by-word for our self obsessed age in fact a new genre of the arts has risen. Famously Ellen de Generes took a selfy with some of her mates in the audience while hosting the 2014 Oscars and it was shared  via Twitter by millions. Debates about its legitimacy as an art form are starting to be discussed in art circles. They are not like the self portraits we are used to. This new genre isn’t dominated by artists but can give voice.

 

Some selfies are extreme closeups, others show part of the arm or the whole body can be shown by the subject standing in front of a mirror. Social media seems to be the driving force behind the selfie.  Young kids and teenages are interested in staying in contact with their friends on a regular basis. According to the Oxford dictionary, a selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one take with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. Selfie’s are a unpretentious photograph of modern every day life. Visual diaries of the personal life or the student. ‘I’m here look at me’