In 2011 the museum embarked on an ambitious project to create a new feature in the Living Democracy exhibition.

Twenty-four amazing people were interviewed by the museum’s curator and their interviews have been part of the exhibition since the middle of last year. In just a few minutes you can get a real taste of the ways in which they each contribute to their community and how passionate they are.

Now we have added portrait photographs of the interviewees to the exhibition. They say a picture can say a thousand words and I think this is true for these 24 portraits.

Meeting the people interviewed for the exhibition was one of the highlights of my professional life. In only a couple of weeks I met people who are making real contributions and changing the world for the better. We were so thrilled they were able to give us just some of their precious time.

Photographer Jennie Groom took the beautiful portraits of the interviewees. I think they each show something about the subject – their humour, their dedication, their personality, their passion. The portraits are powerful, moving, emotive and, in a lot of cases, taken in interesting locations. John Butler was photographed in his studio in Western Australia, the very place he records his music. Michelle Pearse was photographed in the foyer of the ABC Perth Studios (thanks for letting us put her in a window!), and Shanaka Fernando is in a fridge! See if you can work out which photo was taken in a bathroom!

And now we are very excited to announce that photographer Jennie Groom has won awards for three of the portraits she took as part of the project. The portraits of Peter Cundall, Tania Major and Chris Sarra all won Silver Awards at the Australian Institute of Professional Photography Awards either in the state or national categories.

Congratulations Jennie!