FRANCES MOCNIK
THE NIGHT THAT FOLLOWS DAY
How we live life is well defined by the way we view death.
I was 27 years old when my brother died. I didn’t know what to do or how to respond. In search of answers I picked up my camera and embarked on an intimate journey that consumed me for over two years. I attended funerals, visited morgues and funeral parlours, and accompanied forensic police in their investigations. I spent time with people who were dying, with their relatives and carers, and with those whose work brings them in contact with the dead.
Dying isn’t just a question of our body falling apart but an experience of our whole humanity. Everything stored within a lifetime – love, hatred, serenity, bitterness, faith – stood to be aired, empowered, transformed, or even, as in the case of faith, lost or found at such a time. Dying is a multifaceted, ongoing human experience. (Lisa Burnie, A Good Day to Die)
The Night that Follows Day is a project that provides a frank and realistic insight into the experience of death and dying in Australia and how we as Australians face death and the people that enter our orbit when we do. The images have reached deep into the Australian community, consoling those who have already lost loved ones and informing others who are yet to experience this inevitable aspect of life.
We revile it and rage against it, lament its mysteries and its march, but death is as certain a the night that follows day. We will all die. And just as there is death in our life, so, too is there abundant life – and love – in death. (Amanda Burdon, The Night that Follows Day, Australian Geographic)
BIOGRAPHY
Frances is an editorial photographer producing reportage projects for print media and exhibition. She has been awarded the Royal Australian Geographic Medal for the Pursuit of Excellence in Photography. Her series, The Night that Follows Day, has seen her nominated for the prestigious Walkley award and the Leica Documentary award. A selection of images was also featured in the 2007 exhibition Reveries: Photography and Mortality held at the National Portrait Gallery. Frances is widely published and has exhibited nationally and internationally, with her most recent exhibition in St Petersburg, Russia. View more of her work at www.mocnik.com.au