Poetic Portraits

Poetic Portraits celebrates the rich and diverse life stories of Yarra Ranges residents over 50.

Featuring poems written by participants and portraits by Olinda-based photographer Cathy Ronalds, this exhibition invites audiences to challenge stereotypes about ageing and to explore how poetry can connect and instil a sense of sharing and belonging.  

About Poetic Portraits

Poetic Portraits aims to use poetry as a creative platform through which to connect and instil a sense of sharing and belonging. Led by poets Jessica Wilkinson and Cassandra Atherton, Yarra Ranges is one of five Victorian communities participating in the program in 2023. Yarra Ranges poets featured in the exhibition were selected through an EOI process and attended a poetry workshop to develop two poems for the project.

About Cathy Ronalds

Cathy Ronalds is a portrait and landscape photographer based in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria, exploring themes of identity, women and the natural world using both analogue and digital photography.
Winner of the Maggie Diaz Photographic Prize for Women (2019), winner of the Australian Photography Awards (2019), shortlisted in the Portrait of Humanity prize (2020) and finalist/semi-finalist Head On Portrait and Landscape Prize (2020, 2021 and 2022).

Poetic Portraits is presented by Yarra Ranges Council in partnership with RMIT University and launches as part of the Over 50's Festival across Yarra Ranges.