Mervyn Bishop (born 1945)

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hands of traditional landowner, Vincent Lingiari, 1975

printed 2021
digital inkjet print

119.0 x 119.0 cm (image)
151.0 x 146.5 cm (frame)

signed lower right: Mervyn G. Bishop
inscribed with title and dated lower left: Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of / Traditional Gurindji Land Owner, Vincent Lingiari / Wattie Creek Northern Territory 1975 / 2021

Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney
Company collection, Sydney

Australian Postwar Photodocumentary, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 June – 8 August 2004 (another example)
Half Light Portraits from Black Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 November 2008 – 22 February 2009 (another example)
The Photograph and Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 12 March – 8 June 2015; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 4 July – 11 October 2015 (another example)
Mervyn Bishop: Close Up, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, 18 October 2025 – 7 February 2027 (another example)

Annear, J., The Photograph and Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2015, pp. 6 (illus. another example), 50, 292

Other examples of this photograph are held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, the National Library of Australia, Canberra and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney

This work was reproduced as an Australia Post stamp on 24 March 2026