‘Memory is a gardener’s real palette; memory as it summons up the past, memory as it shapes the present, memory as it dictates the future’ -Jamaica Kincaid.
As spaces cultivated by human hands, gardens harbour the spirit of their creators. It is through this manner that they have historically existed as forms of land possession and acts of colonial violence. Yet, within gardens is also the potential for life to be documented as a microcosm of human experience. Angeion (vessel) derives from a consideration of how life passes through nature. Taking guidance from gardens visited in Mt. Wilson (Dharug Country) as well as photographs made of nature, this book exists as a meditation of the interconnectedness between humans and nature as living beings, questioning the beginning and ending of our existence.
A Place of Leaves is a series of three photobooks that document a living ecology in the Blue Mountain Region, Dharug Country. The photographs explore the landscape once titled ‘The Devil’s Wilderness’, in an attempt to question the role of the photograph in our understanding of place. Each book reflects upon a distinct area of the region- River refers to the Grose River, Hill explores the top of Mt Banks, Bush represents the dense bushland in between the two. This series attempts to portray connections found within place as more than a subject but instead a living, breathing collection of life- a place where leaves grow, fall and gather.
A Place of Leaves is a series of three photobooks that document a living ecology in the Blue Mountain Region, Dharug Country. The photographs explore the landscape once titled ‘The Devil’s Wilderness’, in an attempt to question the role of the photograph in our understanding of place. Each book reflects upon a distinct area of the region- River refers to the Grose River, Hill explores the top of Mt Banks, Bush represents the dense bushland in between the two. This series attempts to portray connections found within place as more than a subject but instead a living, breathing collection of life- a place where leaves grow, fall and gather.
A year after the bushfires, I noticed a firetrail situated near my old home on one of my visits to the area. Due to an influx of rain, the bush was regenerating at a rapid pace.
During infrequent visits, I would return to photograph the old road.
Risograph prined concertina.
Photographs made on Biripi Country
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Gadigal Land