Abigail Varney ( b. 1986) is a documentary photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. Her work predominately evolves from her connection to mood, color, and scape. After graduating from Photography Studies College in Melbourne 2013, she completed an internship with the late, truly great Mary Ellen Mark in New York City. In 2014, her series of up-and-coming artists was featured in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. Her long term project in Coober Pedy 2014 – 2017 was displayed at Sydney’s Parliament House, featured at Head On Photo Festival Sydney, and announced Landscape Winner at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne.
Sand & Glitter
Surfers’ Paradise. It’s a heady Australian dream that was never quite realized. Wide white beaches, nightlife, and shopping. From a sparkling past to a faded present, Surfers is known for retirees, bikies, and schoolies. It’s a family destination frosted with hard partying, hair extensions, and tattoos. Placid apartment towers and down at heel hotel chains cast their shadows across the sands, but the local community remains hidden from the tourist’s gaze. Guided by curiosity, nostalgia, and kitsch, Sand and Glitter is the light and the dark sides of tourism; it is sunset-pink glimpses into the contradictions of this place.
To view more of Abigail Varney’s work please visit her website.