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Artist's Name:	Ellen JOSÉ
	Ellen José was born in Cairns in 1951 and is a descendent of Murray, Darnley and Horn Islands. She completed a Certificate of Applied Art at Seven Hills Art College, Brisbane in 1976 and a Diploma of Fine Art at Preston Institute of Technology, Melbourne in 1978. In 1979 she was awarded a Diploma of Education from Melbourne State College. José worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Service in 1980 and 1981 and participated in the NADOC '86 Exhibition of Aboriginal and Islander Photographers at the Aboriginal Artists Gallery, Sydney in 1986 . She commenced working as a lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne that same year. José's photographs were included in the touring exhibition Inside Black Australia in 1988 and Photography: Recent Acquisitions at the Australian National Gallery, Canberra in 1989. She participated in Twenty Contemporary Australian Photographers: from the Hallmark Cards Photographic Collection in 1990, which was shown at both the National Gallery of Victoria and Art Gallery of New South Wales. That same year José, and fellow photographer Mervyn Bishop, undertook a cultural exchange with the Chinese Photographic Society. José has continued to work predominantly as a painter and printmaker, exhibiting her work in a number of group and solo exhibitions. She worked as a lecturer at Deakin University, Melbourne from 1991 to 1994 and was appointed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council in 1996. Artist statement — Ellen JOSÉ My photographs I like to think have a more documentary feel to them as well as spontaneity. Nothing is planned. I like to take portraits as well but I don't like them to be set up either. Depending on the person, I like to give them a more natural look rather than posed. August 1998