Leigh

Direct, proud and resilient are the faces of the twelve men who are the subjects

of Ricky Maynard’s series of black-and-white portraits entitled Saddened Were the Hearts of Many Men. The photographs are of Aboriginal men from Maynard’s home of Flinders Island and nearby Cape Barren Island, Tasmania. Personal and intimate, the photographs build on pre-existing relationships, with a shared history between the men and the artist reflected in the portraits. 

By using photography as a tool to

effect social change, Maynard has crafted this series of photographic portraits to demonstrate how Tasmanian Aboriginal men are impacted by systemic and historic disempowerment. Resonating with resilience, this body of work exposes an enduring spirit in each of the men, despite the shared burden of a brutal history. As Ricky Maynard writes: ‘My work must carry messages of survival. I don’t see these men as victims of history. What I do see is the indomitable spirit of Aboriginal people’.

Gloria Strzelecki, Associate Curator of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art