CONCRETE JUNGLE
Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club, 14th April 2021
Waverley Library Gallery, 11th March 2022

Concrete Jungle visually explores and documents the residents and their homes in the iconic Glenview Court building. Yasmin’s photographic study looks across 15 apartments and their residents living in the worst building in one of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs. Bringing to light for the first and last time what living in Glenview Court was like, before receiving its much-needed upgrade. Through interviews the residents describe what living in the building has been like for them, how it served as their home, and how they feel about needing to leave for its upgrade, making this project an important piece of history. Subjects include Samantha Lane, author journalist, broadcaster and daughter of veteran journalist and commentator Tim Lane; Archibald Prize-winning artist Craig Ruddy; TV Director Adam Kiers who made a music video for the Australian duo No Mono at Glenview Court; Karen Halabi, a freelance journalist and editor and many more creative types.

Through the project Yasmin explores and documents the experience of residents living in an iconic apartment block where she resided for three years prior to its closure for re-development. Glenview Court is known as one of Sydney’s ugliest buildings in one of its most stunning locations. A brutalist white concrete block perched on a clifftop overlooking Tamarama Beach, it has been nicknamed The Beast, Tamarama Toaster, Soviet Hospital, and the Housing Commission. Originally designed by Australia’s most celebrated architect, Harry Seidler, its design was modified, and corners cut by the notorious Rene Rivkin’s developer father Walter Rivkin, who crammed 78 apartments into this seven-level 1960s eyesore that, over ensuing years, rapidly descended into dilapidation and disrepair. It hit major trouble ten years ago when it was served with numerous fire orders and was discovered to be riddled with concrete cancer.

Limited Edition Prints from Concrete Jungle will be released for sale on opening night and available from the exhibition.

Concrete Jungle Photographic Book will also be available for purchase in book form on opening night or pre-order online HERE.

May 2017, Hotel Ravesis, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.

It’s very exciting to announce the debut exhibition of National Geographic multi-award winning travel and documentary photographer Yasmin Mund, in association with Head On Photo Festival 2017.

After traveling far and wide in 2015, Sydney based photographer Yasmin Mund was captivated by the scenery of Agay, a small village in the South of France, situated between St Tropez and Cannes on the Cote d’Azur. The Hôtel Hôtel series was taken over three weeks of summer in 2015, and it showcases the coastal life and landscape of this quaint little town on the Mediterranean Sea. 

During her time in the small village Yasmin observed the subtle changes in the scenery. In her own words she states: “One morning, I witnessed a man taking down a hotel sign, letter by letter, from one of the many hotels situated on the beachfront. This was a hotel that I had already photographed, and this visual development in the physical environment sparked an internal conversation of change in my surroundings”.

As a photographer, Yasmin felt a duty to photograph what stood out to her in the landscape. To see that change in action right before her eyes brought new meaning to her documentary work. It is this idea of change that sits at the heart of this landscape series ‘Hôtel Hôtel’.

Visually, Hôtel Hôtel is true to the photographer’s style; full of colour with a lightness and brightness. Symmetric and balanced composition features throughout, and with a colour palette that recollects 70’s pop art the series is eye-catchingly delicious. 

Prints are for sale in limited editions HERE, with 10% going to a Kaarmic Education photography program for girls in rural India. Yasmin has been involved with Kaarmic Education for the past three years; writing the photography curriculum, training local teachers and facilitating the program across five locations in Telangana, India.

Listen to Yasmin's HÔTEL HÔTEL interview on Sydney's FBi Radio's Culture Guide live to air on Monday 8th May 2017 below.