Emerging Cultural Leaders 2013

Isabella Capezio

I discovered that [the] Footscray community is made up of many smaller communities that are constantly changing and intermingling and that there is not one approach or method for working with them. I have become aware of how important it is for your project to be able to be personalised and made relevant to the participants and their individual situations. I now recognise how important teaching and sharing knowledge is, and how visual art can provide people with the skills and confidence to show a different perspective. – Isabella Capezio

Isabella has completed a Bachelor of Arts – Photography at the Royal Melbourne Institute
of Technology. She has exhibited in group exhibitions through the university and with interstate and international curators. Her work has also published in independent and alternative online publications.
Isabella’s personal work is often inspired by her awareness of society’s incongruities, and is permeated by an understanding and appreciation of the differences she experiences through daily life. She addresses themes of community, degradation and the morality of culture, religion and mysticism. Isabella is heavily influenced by her encounters with new people and environments, and is working towards engaging broader communities.
Currently Isabella is collaborating with the Footscray community establishing the artist run initiative, Ruffian Gallery, and through teaching and workshops.
Isabella is also involved with the Asia Pacific Photobook Archive that promotes the photobook medium and its importance as a relevant and tangible form of visual art. She will travel to Cambodia to facilitate a photobook competition through APPA and Angkor Photo Festival.
Isabella was mentored by Richie Hallal.

THE PROJECT
A workshop that teaches practical, technical analogue photography skills while engaging in conversations about portraiture, respect and our community.