Passage: The Art of Atong Atem

Passage: The Art of Atong Atem is the first major monograph on acclaimed South Sudanese-Australian artist Atong Atem. A vivid exploration of migration, memory and the making of identity, it traces her journey from South Sudan to Australia’s east coast, revealing how family, storytelling and image-making shape her richly staged portraits. Working across photography, video and textiles, Atem reimagines the intimacy of portraiture. Her signature framing devices – small portals hovering over her subjects’ faces –invite us to look again, through a lens that is at once surreal and deeply personal. Drawing on the legacies of such African studio photographers as Malick Sidibé, Philip Kwame Apagya and Seydou Keïta, she constructs lush tableaux that probe diaspora, postcolonial identity and the meaning of home. Lavishly illustrated and featuring new essays by leading international voices, Passage is an essential volume on one of the most compelling artists of her generation.