About the Collection

On the Fringes

The On the Fringes: South West Sydney 1994-2014 collection explores social history and cultural life on the outskirts of south-western Sydney. Recorded through photography, audio interviews, and video footage, the collection documents the communities of Green Valley (six suburbs of fibro housing) and the market gardens of Austral, Leppington, Bringelly and the surrounding region.

There are the shots of market gardeners and koi farmers, local walking groups and bocce players, big noisy families celebrating weddings and birthdays, and solitary folk leading quiet, ordinary lives. Take a look!

Therese Sweeney

Born 1961

I have been engaging communities, industry & families in photography, digital media & oral history recordings since the early 1990’s. I bring solid experience in strategy & communications to project work & commissions as: oral historian, media technician, artist, researcher, curator, digital archivist, writer & publish under Sweeney Ink.

For 30 years or more I have exhibited photography, video installations & sound recordings at major galleries throughout Sydney; at key libraries & museums across Sydney; in the landscape and built environment as video projections; online archives; & at key community sites such as clubs & resource centres. My work is held in both private collections and major State & National public institutions.

I have written, trained & delivered media courses with residents, transferring my skills in Green Valley, Airds, Macquarie Fields & sites within Liverpool for many years. All these projects have resulted in successful exhibition outcomes, including national recognition by way of nomination for media training at ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media) awards in 2001. In recent years I have trained at regional libraries & galleries in oral history technologies & protocols as consultant to State Library NSW & Oral History NSW.

I have received numerous scholarships throughout my creative life, including a research fellowship at UTS through Shopfront & NSW Dept. of Women in 2000.

Prior to above I was employed in NSW government for over a decade, resigning as Senior Policy Officer, Legal Aid Commission in 1991, a human resource specialist.

Today, I continue my work on the South Coast of NSW and have in recent years written a number of oral history books via commission from private clients, industry & government.

Sweeney Ink has been publishing family, company and regional history books from 2016 as private commissions and government contracts.

A comprehensive list of my major works, books, exhibition history, speaking engagements, video productions, qualifications, awards, and teaching and consultant roles can be found at theresesweeney.com.au

Instructions

There are lots of ways to find your way around the site. These instructions will get you started.

Hit the explore button at the top of the page. This will take you to the browse page, where a selection of photographs are displayed. Select an image. On the right hand side of each image there is a list of keywords and subjects. Sometimes, there is also a bank of related images. Select a keyword or subject term or a related image to browse the collection.

To return to the brows page, hit the Browse button at the top of the page. To return to the front page, hit the Therese Sweeney Ink button.

License

Unless otherwise noted, content on the sweeney.lib.uts.edu.au website is owned by Therese Sweeney. To request a license for non-commercial or commercial use of her work, please contact Therese Sweeney by phone on 0415900320, or by email.