Melissa Anderson is one of 100 Australian female photographers chosen to exhibit their work at the national Loud and Luminous exhibition starting next month.
Loud and Luminous focuses on gender equality and will be launched in Canberra at a arts symposium for International Women's Day. Artists from across Australia and as young as 11 years old will show their work.
Melissa is the project co-curator and said one of the main aims of the exhibition is to bring people together for an "inclusive discussion that celebrates diversity and promotes equality, equity and cultural change".
This will be the third year that Australian photographers have come together to make a statement through their work.
"The stories told in Loud and Luminous 2020 will address important social issues, such as what equality is in global, gender, economic, social, cultural and environmental concepts-and what changes we need to make to achieve it," Melissa said.
Melissa said her artwork focused on inspiring change to create a world based on equality.
"I photographed Gail Austen from Goodtime to honour her significant contributions to community, and in creating a better world. To me, equality is about the choices we make every day, it starts with us," Melissa said.
A daughter of a photographer, Melissa is an accomplished artist with over two decades of experience working across many genres. She studied photography at Griffith University and has been awarded Masters of Photography.
She has received numerous accolades throughout her career for her imagery, business ethos and photographic and cultural contributions. Her work has been awarded, exhibited and published internationally, and her projects are held in the National Library Australia, Australian War Memorial, Australian National and State Galleries, and in international galleries.
The 2020 Loud and Luminous project includes a symposium at The Harmonie German Club of Canberra on March 6, a book presentation to the National Library of Australia and a gallery exhibition will be held in Sydney throughout April, in Melbourne in August, and Brisbane in November.
