David Hempenstall (b.1979) began photographing in the sea when he was a teenager.
Hempenstall has dedicated more than a decade to the use of the still photograph as a tool of documentation and as a chance to make new objects solely related to his own experience of event and place.
David’s prints have been exhibited in a number of public galleries including the Monash Gallery of Art, The State Library of New South Wales and the Griffith Regional Art Gallery. His pictures are held in public and private collections in Australia and intenationally.
Hempenstall’s commissions have crossed a broad field of enquiry. He has worked extensively with large cultural institutions in Australia and abroad on their photographic programs and collections to aid in research, publication and public use. His photographs of the discovery and documentation of mass graves in Iraq were central pieces of evidence presented in a number of Iraqi High Tribunal proceedings against several prominent Ba’athists.
Since early 2007 Hempenstall has been actively pursuing a project in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville exploring the post-conflict / pre-referendum environment and the sites of significance that link the three generations of his family who have lived and worked there.
David is now based in the Australian Capital Territory.
contact David
ph: +61 422 396 028