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Juno GemesJuno Gemes was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944 and moved to Australia with her family in 1949. She has been exhibiting her photographs since the late 1960s. Gemes studied at Sydney University before working in theatre after graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney in 1964. In 1967, she travelled to Britain and directed multi-media performance works at UFO; Joan Littlewood's Stafford East Theatre; and the Perfumed Garden with Yoko Ono. Gemes also wrote regularly for the International Times in London until 1971. Back in Sydney, Gemes was a founding member of the 10 Cunningham Street Artist's Collective; and also of The Yellow House, an artists' collective (1970-1973) established by the artist Martin Sharp on his return from London at the beginning of 1970.
Gemes came to photography from her background in multi-media arts and film making, and began further studies of photography in the UK and Europe in 1972, later receiving Arts Council grants to attend workshops in Oxford with Aaron Siskind and David Hurn. She returned to Australia in 1979, and has worked extensively with Aboriginal peoples and communities. A major survey of her work, Under Another Sky, Juno Gemes Photography 1968-1988, was shown at Budapest in 1988 and at Paris in 1989.
Gemes is married to the poet Robert Adamson and lives in NSW. Her photographs are held in numerous public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia; National Portrait Gallery; National Library of Australia; and National Museum of Australia (all in Canberra); Churchill College, Cambridge, UK; Art Gallery of South Australia; South Australian Museum (both in Adelaide); Queensland Museum; and Queensland Art Gallery (both in Brisbane); the State Library of NSW; Australian Museum; State Library of New South Wales; Art Gallery of New South Wales; and the Brett Whiteley Museum (all in Sydney).
