Tracey Moffatt - Fourth #1-#26
Tracey Moffatt
Born 1960, Brisbane. Lives and works Sydney.
Fourth #1-#26, 2001
photo silkscreen
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
The story behind Fourth begins in 1997. It was the year that I started to have a lot of international shows of my photography and films. I was told that someone from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Committee had telephoned and asked about the possibility of me being available as the 'official photographer' for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I expressed interest but after a while I didn't hear back from them. This didn't disappoint me; it only got my imagination going. I fantasised that if I really were to be the 'official photographer' for the Sydney 2000 Olympics I would photograph the sporting events with my own take on it all - I would photograph the losers.
My photo series Fourth is no great document of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. I think I'm trying to say something grand about competition in general. That it's beautiful to try. That to reach a final at an Olympic Games is a great achievement. To even be invited to participate in the Olympic Games is a great achievement. To even be athletic in general is a great achievement. To get yourself up and walk down the street is a great achievement. To wake up and face another hideous day is a great achievement. To even think about what you are going to do in the next hour is a great achievement. -Tracey Moffatt
Tracey Moffatt - Fourth #1-#26
Tracey Moffatt
Born 1960, Brisbane. Lives and works Sydney.
Fourth #1-#26, 2001
photo silkscreen
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
The story behind Fourth begins in 1997. It was the year that I started to have a lot of international shows of my photography and films. I was told that someone from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Committee had telephoned and asked about the possibility of me being available as the 'official photographer' for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I expressed interest but after a while I didn't hear back from them. This didn't disappoint me; it only got my imagination going. I fantasised that if I really were to be the 'official photographer' for the Sydney 2000 Olympics I would photograph the sporting events with my own take on it all - I would photograph the losers.
My photo series Fourth is no great document of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. I think I'm trying to say something grand about competition in general. That it's beautiful to try. That to reach a final at an Olympic Games is a great achievement. To even be invited to participate in the Olympic Games is a great achievement. To even be athletic in general is a great achievement. To get yourself up and walk down the street is a great achievement. To wake up and face another hideous day is a great achievement. To even think about what you are going to do in the next hour is a great achievement. -Tracey Moffatt