Parramatta Yearbook was commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia through C3West, in partnership with the City of Parramatta and Parramatta Artists’ Studios.
Developed across two years, the project invited people from across Parramatta to take part in a temporary public photo studio. Participants included families, school students, workers, artists, community organisations, sporting groups, faith groups, cultural associations, local businesses, elders and young people. People arrived alone, in pairs, with friends, children, colleagues and extended family.
The portraits were brought together as a large-scale public photo wall, creating a collective picture of Parramatta at a moment of rapid urban and social change. The work gave people the chance to see themselves represented in public space and to recognise themselves as belonging to the place. Parramatta appeared through its people, their faces, clothes, gestures, relationships and group affiliations.
Using the familiar structure of the yearbook, the project considers belonging, memory and public visibility. Each portrait records a person’s presence in Parramatta, while the larger series becomes a social archive shaped by participation, recognition and encounter.