Landscaping
pigment inkjet prints on paper (triptych)
approx. 49cm x 221cm
Landscaping is a triptych of multiple-exposure photographs of the Australian landscape produced during a Bundanon artist residency in 2019. Each photograph is a blend of five exposures merged in-camera by an algorithm that removes the darker parts of the source images. While it resembles a landscape, the resulting picture is fictional and unlike the actual place I photographed. Once Aboriginal Country, European farmland, cottage retreat, artist residence and now museum, Bundanon is a layered site that has undergone several transformations over the years. It is a controlled and landscaped environment that reminded me of the experience of being a photographer — framing and composing to make everything fit into a pretty picture. In a bid to reset my impressions, and in reaction to my own experience of the site as a beautiful place, I chose to let the camera be guided by chance, pressing the shutter button at random and hoping to generate a less constructed, and perhaps more honest, depiction of the land.