My first Photography Exhibition verses all these lockdowns!
Updated: Sep 19, 2021
Guys...I'm so excited to be given the opportunity to show my landscape images at the amazing International Ballarat Foto Biennale. There are so many things I want to check out at the biennale...can.not.wait!
To say I am thrilled to be part of this is an understatement. Exhibiting my landscape photography is a dream of mine...and truly I didn't know where to start to make it happen. So when this opportunity came up I jumped at it (well, I might have been pushed by Nikita, but I jumped eventually nonetheless haha).
These images are a collection of photographs I have taken while traveling this glorious country of ours. Travel with my family is something I love to do....as do most of us....and it is something I am missing during this pandemic! I can't wait to get out on the open road again and stare out the window at the world going by (Mick does alllll the driving, I've given up asking if he wants a break).
The lockdowns have been hindering the opening of the Biennale...first because the whole state was locked down, now specifically Ballarat...announced on the day of the reopening!! What are the chances?!?! So I have been a little confused as to when to share the images? Do I wait until the Biennale is open and people can see them in person? Do I put them online so people can see them because they can't see them in person?!? Who knows? So I'm just going to share them now, why not?!
So this is 'Vistas through the passenger window' - enjoy!
Ok, so I'm starting with Wilson's Promontory in 2018, known as Wamoon or Wamoom on Boonwurrung country. I have included 4 images from our camping trip into this beautiful land.
This image was taken as we arrived....we just had to stop and take in this glorious landscape and the show mother nature was putting on for us. The kids imagined the dinosaurs walking across this country as we sat and enjoyed the last light of the day. We may have set up the camper in the dark...but it was totally worth it!
As the kids are getting bigger we have been taking them on more and more bush walks. The Prom offers many walks that are so great for small people. This was somewhere along the track of one of those walks....the kids and I scrambled along the rocks to see just a little further around the bend.
I took off just before sunset and left Mick and the kids to get tea ready. I wanted to see what magic lay ahead for the sunset...even if the sky doesn't light up with all the reds and pinks we think of as a sunset, there is just something I can't resist about this time of day.
Another walk down to the beach...just stepping off the side of the track to see the coastline winding away from us.
The next lot of images are from our 2019 adventure - long service leave, a newly renovated 1970's caravan and a spirit of adventure and we were off. We travelled from home down here in Victoria all the way to the tip of far north Queensland. Little did we know that it would be our last adventure for a long time! We got home in November and I am so grateful we got to experience this before the world came to a standstill.
We drove past this shed on our way to somewhere along to NSW coast...not really sure where now to be honest. Somewhere on Gumbainggir country, I spotted this property and asked if we would be coming back along the same road. When Mick said yes, I made him remember where this shed was and said I was going to take a photo on the way back. He is good with things like that haha! I knew the light would be that little bit softer near the end of the day and I just couldn't resist capturing this magnificent monstera slowly, but surely, claiming this shed for itself.....I would have loved to see what it looked like inside as well!
The running joke when we are on holiday is that - we better stop because there is another tree for Mum to photograph - and well, it's funny because it is true! I will take a photo of every tree and I'm not even sorry about it! This is somewhere on the Bloomfield track, a famous 4WD track in far north Queensland. We tried to google earth it....still couldn't quite work out which paddock it was. There was a property that had a house on one side and sheds and other buildings on the other side of the road. We thought we might be able to make it out....but no. It lies somewhere in Kaku-Yalanji country.
Bribie Island, Yuggera country, is a gorgeous place. It had not long been ravaged by fire. Those fires of late 2019 that soon became forgotten about once 2020 hit. These ferns were filling up the undergrowth, while all the trees above were just charcoal coloured sticks...the intense red of the leaves and their shape were just too much for me to resist as the afternoon sun shone through them. We managed to find a part of the track to pull to the side without getting bogged in the sand, and I walked back to capture this image.
Ok, so in Noosa we had the most rain over 2 days, than the whole trip combined. We had spent 2 months is Queensland, mostly in the outback...so next to no rain. Noosa made up for it with nearly 70mm falling in one day. We saw the sign for this lookout on that ridiculously rainy day....because what else do you do if it is torrential rain...you go for a drive. We made our way back to it when the weather cleared. I said I'd walk to the first viewpoint while everyone waited in the car...well I accidentally went all the way to the top...I must have missed the sign. I am so glad I did (not sure the others were as happy given I was about 45mins, not 15!) This is pretty much my favourite shot from the trip. Noosa is in Gubbi Gubbi country.
These guys were hanging out on the beach everyday we were camped here in Smokey Cape, Dainggatti country. They let me get really close and I love their reflections on the sand. The air was thick with smoke and crazy hazy yellow all day. It gave the beach an eerie feel, with the smell of smoke all around and the haze making it difficult to see. It became a very familiar feeling over January when the fires were ravaging our country. I am glad we haven't experienced that since.
I spent ages leaning over the rail on the side of the path, photographing these waves crashing. There is something hypnotic about watching wave crash isn't there....the kids ate their ice creams and I took photos...bliss. It is such an iconic Aussie spot the old Bondi, my daughter was so excited to be where Bondi Rescue is filmed haha! Yep you bet we took photos out the front of the surf lifesaving hut! Bondi Beach originally known as Boondi, which has the same meaning as surf in English, is on Eora country.
This is the view we were greeted with on our way home for the day. Look at that light streaming through the hills...it will never get old. This is on the way back towards Port Douglas. Magical spot yeah, on Yidinjdji country.
This last image was taken on our whirlwind trip to Adelaide this summer. We spent the day, mostly in the car, because it was over 40 degrees. We travelled through Ngarrindjeri country and ended up eating fish and chips at Port Willunga. A more traditional Aussie summer night, I cannot think of?!? I am so keen to get back and spend some more time along this coastline! Who does it think it is?!? It feels like somewhere in Europe...and it is probably the closest I'm going to get for a while, it was just breathtakingly beautiful.
If you get the chance to head up the highway to Ballarat to take in all the photographic goodness the Biennale has to offer, I would be eternally grateful if you popped into the Hub and checked out my work!
The images were printed using Hahnemuhle papers from Spicers who are sponsoring The Hub. Of course they were all printed and framed by the king of framing, Scott Pickett at Frameline (see him in action in the photo below). We travelled up to Ballarat to hang the exhibition...aggghhh it was so cool!!
All the photographs are available to purchase at the Biennale! They are all the first edition....so extra spesh!! If you've made it this far...thanks so much, I hope you've enjoyed the photos!
Rhi xx