This portrait of the Hon. Linda Burney MP (b. 1957) and her son Binni is one of Michael Riley's earliest photographs. She and Riley were close friends, and he lived with Burney in Leichardt when Binni was young. Burney was one of the first Aboriginal women to graduate from a university in Australia and the first Aboriginal person to be admitted to New South Wales Parliament. She went on to become Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Labor Party and the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the House of Representatives. Burney is outspoken about her commitment to the prevention of domestic violence and family violence.
Michael Riley's tender portrait shows the bond between mother and child. As Linda later recalled: 'Looking at those pictures has taken me back to the early 80s when we were all so young, and really had no sense of the enormous lives that some of us would have … Michael had an enormous influence on both my children. He was their uncle, and a connection between Michael and my children is very strong, so it's a very, very special photograph. And I remember Michael getting us to pose for that photograph. And I had no idea that it would become such an enduring image of the beauty that he could make.'
Purchased 2013
© Michael Riley/Copyright Agency, 2024
Linda and Binni by Wiradjuri/Kamileroi artist Michael Riley is from the series Michael Riley Portraits 1984 to 1990. It is a black and white photograph taken in 1984 and printed in 2013. An inkjet print on paper, it measures 43.1 centimetres high and 54 centimetres wide.
Linda is educator, activist and politician Linda Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, with her young son Binni. It is an intimate head and shoulders portrait of a young mother holding her baby against her body. Binni nestles into his mother’s left shoulder as she faces forward. Binni’s back is to us as Linda supports his neck and head with her slender left hand.
Gentle diffused light washes over the portrait from her left casting the right-hand side of Linda’s head and face into deep shadow. The contrast of light and shade emphasizes the physical connection between mother and baby.
Linda has a downward tilt to her head. She has short, slightly wavy, thick dark hair with a right-hand part. She has fine dark eyebrows over downcast eyes with shadowed lids and long lashes. She has faint lines either side of her nose and her lips are slightly upturned with a hint of a smile.
Linda’s chin rests against Binni’s left shoulder and his dimpled bent left elbow peaks beneath her chin. Linda’s right shoulder fades into the dark background.
There is a sense of stillness and calm.
Audio description script written and vocied by Krysia Kitch
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Linda Burney, Brenda Croft and Darrell Sibosado share memories of Michael Riley and his photographic practice.
Michael Riley’s early portraits by Amanda Rowell.
