Digby Duncan was born in Albury NSW. Her love of photography goes back to her childhood box brownie camera. As a young adult she moved to Sydney worked as an accountant, a documentary filmmaker and a film producer for many years before returning to photography.
Her first solo exhibition (“Sea Script”, Gallery East, 2003) captured the unique shapes, textures and patterns formed by seaweed washed up on the sand. The sequencing of these photographs evoked calligraphy, alphabets and secret languages. Her second exhibition (“Lingua Marina”, Gallery East 2004) featured sand patterns and the work of small mollusks. Using a macro lens she captured the drawing-like marks they make as they plough through the sand.
In 2011 as an artist–in–resident at Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, Digby photographed the night street life of Feijiacun, a small village slated for demolition. Moving through the village at night she impressionistically portrayed the mood and ambience of life after dark (ARTHERE “After Dark”, Syndicate at Danks Gallery 2011). In 2013 Digby was an artist-in- residence in Oaxaca, Mexico where she photographed Day of the Dead celebrations. Together with Sarah Gibson, she developed the blog “Journeys to the Underworld” exploring the Mexican attitude to death. See http://journeystotheunderworld.com/category/journey/mexico/
In 2014 she was a contributor to ARTHERE group exhibition “October Unseen”,10X8 Gallery. She exhibited work from her “Outside-In” series in which she observes ordinary moments glimpsed as we pass by a window or a door at night. Her cinematic images draw us into their intimate interiors yet position us as outside observers left to imagine our own micro narratives. Some images from this series appear in the publication “Photo Compendium Australia 11” and were exhibited at Spot 81 Gallery in November 2014. She exhibited recent work from this series as part of “Coterie” exhibition at Depot Gallery, Danks St, Waterloo in 2016.
In 2015 Digby undertook an artist residency at Green Olive Arts, Tetouan, Morocco where she photographed the daily life of local people.
She was a finalist in the Muswellbrook (2014) and Mosman (2009) photographic competitions. Her work is held in private collections in Australia, USA, UK, and Italy and in the University of Wollongong Art Collection. Her group exhibitions have included images of Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras events and desert and costal landscapes. Her portrait photography has been featured in Art Monthly and MCA publications.
Solo Exhibitions
Lingua Marina – Gallery East, Clovelly, Nov 2004
Sea Script – Gallery East, Clovelly, Dec 2003
Competitions
Finalist Muswellbrook Photography Award 2014
Finalist Mosman Photography Competition 2009
Residencies
Green Olive Arts, Tetouan, Morocco, Sept- October 2015
Obracadobra Oaxaca Mexico, Nov.2013
Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, May 2011
Group Exhibitions
Coterie, Depot Gallery, Danks St, Waterloo, May 2016
Green Olive Arts Gallery, Tetouan, Morocco, October 2015
Photo Compendium Exhibition- Spot 81 Gallery, Nov 2014
October Unseen-10X8 Gallery- Oct. 2014
BentART Annual Exhibition – Wentworth Falls, June 2014
Lost in Place-Damien Minton Gallery, Nov.2013
BentART Annual Exhibition- Wentworth Falls-June 2013
Red Gate Revisited Transxpress Postcard Exhibition, May 2013
4A Annual Members Exhibition- Haymarket, 2012
Kitsch and Cliché-NG Art Gallery, Chippendale, Feb.2012
4A Annual Members Exhibition, Haymarket, 2011
After Dark- Syndicate Gallery, Danks St, Waterloo, Oct 2011
Red Gate Gallery Open Studio Exhibition – Beijing, May 2011
Private Passions – Tap Gallery, Darlinghurst, Feb 2011
Mosman Photography Competition – Mosman Art Gallery, Oct 2009
Australian Centre for Photography Print Exhibition – ACP, Oct 2009
ACP Print Exhibition at Gartner Symposium Itxpo, Nov 2009
Clovelly Artists – Gallery East, Dec 2008
Spinning Opposites – Yuga Gallery, Glebe, March 2007
Light and Dark – Tripod Gallery Café- Darlington, Feb 2005
Gay Games Opening, Sydney – stills video installation, Nov 2002
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, Lesbian & Gay Sydney – 1902-2001 – NSW State Parliament House, 2001
Absolutely Mardi Gras – Power House Museum, Feb 1996
Out With Pride – bare gallery, Newtown, 1994
Publications
Photo Compendium by Bob Kersey and Mary Meyer,Black Mountain, 2014
Dancing Up Country: The Art of Dorothy Napanardi MCA Catalogue Dec 2002 – portrait “Dorothy Napangardi”
Art Monthly No 136, Dec 2000 – portrait “Dorothy Napangardi ”
It Was A Riot -Sydney’s First Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras- 78’ers Group, 1998
Absolutely Mardi Gras – Powerhouse Publishing & Doubleday, 1997
The Night of Your Life – Rural & City Media Services, 1995