Missy Higgins (b. 1982), singer/songwriter, began singing in her early teens, falsifying her age to get into clubs to play with her brother's jazz combo. While she was in high school, the demo track 'All For Believing' won her the Triple J Unearthed unsigned artists' competition. In 2004 Higgins screamed to the top of the Australian charts with hit singles including 'Scar'. The most played song on Australian radio that year, it was voted the APRA song of the year and second-best song on Triple J's 'Hottest 100' poll. Her first album The Sound of White (2004) ensured Higgins scooped the pool at the 2005 ARIA awards, winning five awards including Album of the Year. Her subsequent albums include On A Clear Night (2007), The Ol' Razzle Dazzle (2012), Oz (2014), Solastalgia (2018) and The Special Ones (2018). Higgins supported Ed Sheeran on his 2018 Australian tour, the largest series of concerts in Australian history with one million tickets sold.
Julian Kingma photographed Higgins at the start of her meteoric rise in 2004, when The Sound of White debuted at number one on the ARIA albums chart. His moody image of Higgins perched on a piano is shot in his trademark black and white.
Gift of the artist 2006
© Julian Kingma
Julian Kingma (6 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Penelope Grist explores the photographic instinct of four-time National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist Julian Kingma.
Photographer Julian Kingma describes his style of quiet portraiture that captures the spaces in between big gestures.
