About Face is a photographic exploration of multiculturalism and diversity in the Australian context. Australian men from all walks of life were invited to be photographed and interviewed on their diverse life experiences.
Water is an essential element in all our lives – regardless of our race, culture, and economic circumstances. In About Face, the viewer is invited into each model's bathroom. This intensely private setting strips away the façade of fashion and offers the viewer a glimpse of the person's intimate "real" self.
About Face shows that even though we may outwardly different – through our race, age, physical appearance, and abilities; we as a single species also share a lot in common, especially in the way we feel, and the way we want to be treated.
When we finally realise the once foreign "other" isn't as strange as we thought it to be, we are able to embrace our differences and share our experiences in our short mortal existence.It struck me that quite a few of the men photographed probably would vehemently disagree with each other - whether "reverse racism" was a valid topic of contention, whether someone checked their privilege or not, even assumptions made about cultures. Keo Lin seems to have decided not to censor nor strongly editorialise the photos & interviews (I don't know what the proportion is between the people on the site and the people he interviewed & photographed), letting their words speak for themselves - and the viewer to make up their own mind.
A few examples:
In a way, Australia is, and it isn't really multicultural. Outwardly, we appear to be open to different nationalities. But there's still a lot of discrimination when it comes to, say, employment. I've actually been told several times that I should change my name. As if that would matter in the way I perform my job. - Elias
Are all the minority cultures treated equally? Nope. But with saying that, I don't think I could ever get a job at say an Asian bakery. If I walk in there, they're gonna look at me, they're gonna think "Well, this White guy's parents aren't gonna give my daughter a job at a clothing store", and that's just a thought.[...] As much there is racism towards the minorities that aren't white, there's also a reverse racism, and might be this big growing factor where everyone's chasing their tails and not go anywhere. - Joel
I asked some girl about Aboriginals and the first phrase was they are the worst of the blacks. That was the end of that conversation. Having coming from the States, and lived in several other places before, I am inclined to think that Australia is a lot less tolerant of cultural diversity. Like it's funny how the Caucasian people born here don't consider themselves to be Australian White, but just "Australian", which is absurd as none of them is originally from here in the first place. - Theodore
With the photos and interviews are sidebars about diversity in Australia - from snippets of speeches, to statistics and analysis. I was especially struck by the sidebar about an experience sharing the Inaugural Speech by President of Jamaica Portia Simpson-Miller with a Grade 6 class, asking them whether Australia should remain a monarchy (with the Queen of England as Head of State) or a republic. The class overwhelmingly voted for the republic, and this response from one of the students is really thought-provoking:
If Australia becomes a republic, it might heal the rift between the Indigenous Australians and us. This is because if I were an Indigenous Australian, I would feel very frustrated that a British conqueror is still recognised as the leader of my country. So by removing the Queen and the monarchy from the top, we can all feel equal.See more photos, interviews, and side bars on the About Face website.
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