A Place of Leaves (2023)


Leaves are found all throughout the world. In barren deserts, leaves can be identified. In dark places under the sea, leaf-like life lives and breathes. They have come to symbolise growth, change and fertility. A certain hope radiates from light piercing through shimmering leaves. To have this in abundance would make for A Place of Leaves. This title derives from the photographic subject to this body of work, an area once called ‘The Devil’s Wilderness’, in the Blue Mountains (Dharug Country). Explorer George Caley titled the land after unsuccessfully crossing the Mountains in 1804. The term ‘Wilderness’ (deriving from ‘A place of wild animals’) reflects a more general feeling of the early settler toward the Australian landscape. If a state of ‘Wilderness’ was the initial colonial name for the landscape, then A Place of Leaves is its antithesis.

The photographs which make up the three chapters of this series: River, Hill & Bush are the resulting documentation of time spent walking and engaging with the area, ‘The Devil’s Wilderness’. Made over a period of 6 months, the photographs reflect three distinct areas- River refers to the Grose River and its streams, Hill explores the top of Mt Banks, where Caley’s journey concluded, Bush represents the dense bushland in between. Together, 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.



River





Bush






Hill