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November 26, 2009
[REVIEW—BEYOND REASONABLE DROUGHT]
Price: $40 – published by Five Mile Press
Tragically beautiful
The low-down: This book is a collection of several hundred photographs that record the drought and its effect on the land, the people and the creatures, both native and introduced, of this continent. It is the work of an ad hoc group that calls itself Many Australian Photographers (MAP). They work at their own expense on their projects. Most of the nation is covered in the photographs. Parallels will be drawn with the famous American Farm Security Administration photographic project of the 1930s.
Like: The indefatigable and extraordinarily talented Andrew Chapman is both the president of MAP and a major contributor of images. Ponch Hawkes focuses on people with a touching sub-gallery of subjects writing a few lines about what they most want to save from the drought. There is a photo of huge mob of ‘roos looking for water, taken by Michael Amendolia. Julie Millowick has a ten panel sequence of a woman taking a bath under conditions of Stage 4 water restrictions. It is all heart-breakingly beautiful.
Dislike: The pain…
Verdict: This is a remarkable documentary record of what might turn out to be the longest and worst drought in post-settlement history or the first years of the desertification of southern Australia. Either way these photos will be an enduring record of a terrible time. But the reason for reviewing the book here is that it is a masterclass in the art of photography. Here we learn about composition, light, the use of both colour and black and white and, most poignantly, the use of photography to tell a story and to move the viewer. As Don Watson writes in his foreword, these photos “capture the ancient drama now unfolding.”
Photo by Michael Amendolia, Oxley Station NSW
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Posted by terry at November 26, 2009 08:54 AM
