We live and work on Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal Country. We honour the ongoing cultural and ecological relationships First Nations Australians hold with Country, waters and skies and acknowledge their continued custodianship.
Copyright 2023, Floorplan Studio
Documentary photography has served as a method of preservation of the site as well as revealing these alternate histories and forgotten past events
Name
Medium
Dimensions
For Sale?
Photographic prints are for sale. Editions TBC
Various dimensions.
Photography and mixed media
The Last Island on Cooks
Henry Butterworth
Henry Butterworth is a Sydney based artist, recently graduating with an Honours in Fine Arts from UNSWAD. Henry’s practice in grounded in photography and works to interrogate the traditional modes of documentary photography by questioning its authenticity, representations of “truth” and its influence over understanding history. Archival processes are an important component of Henry’s practice in his methods of research and appropriating archives to further explore the relationship between the past and present
Artwork Statement
'The Last Island on Cooks' (2022) explores the various histories and changing landscape of a small island situated on the Cooks River in Sydney. The island was named "Fatima Island" in the 1950's after a catholic pilgrimage for the Lady of Fatima arrived at the site. Since then, there have been several attempts by local council members and the public to save Fatima Island from erosion and eventually disappearing entirely. Documentary photography has served as a method of preservation of the site as well as revealing these alternate histories and forgotten past events. By intentionally blurring the line between fact and fiction within documentary making, Henry explores the complex nature a site can hold and how a photograph may represent this.
