“The Empire on which the Sun never sets”
First and foremost- I would like to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land, both past and present on which I practice my art making.
Britain once controlled a quarter of the world’s land mass at its peak, from Canada, India, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Nowadays Britain holds a few overseas territories and a Commonwealth alliance of all its territories it still holds an office of constitutional monarchy or a past imperial history. However I am not here to explore politics. This is another typology of digital photographs where I explore Sydney and shoot what remains of the empire in what was once a British Dominion down under.
Remnants of Empire, Geoffrey Huang, 2018, Digital Photograph. 59.4cm x 42cm
The Hidden British Motifs which we overlook every day.
Through walking around and shooting I was able to find three things where British motifs are in our lives in Sydney which we overlook every day.
Coat of Arms of United Kingdom- This symbol is a symbol that shows that we were once solely British, it enforced that our lands were under Crown administration/ British Occupation.
The Union Jack in all of our flags- The Union Jack was merged onto all flags and ensigns of the empire. The British Flag is in all of our flags today and though we see these flags as Australian, we cannot deny that a touch of Britain exists in all these flags.
City Circle Station Signs- The station signs in the City circle resemble in the London underground, throughout our history Australia has always modelled its architecture of that back in Britain, this is one of the examples of that.
Through this study, I was able to see hidden things around and about the city of Sydney that reminds us of the United Kingdom. Some may see this work as political, it may provoke conversation, however, this work is just me being curious in my photography and in my art. I like to see the things that are overlooked and I liked to bring them to light. It just so happens in this typology I am focusing on British Colonial Symbolism.