Friday 3 November 2017

A photo that saved a river

I went to Canberra just to see an exhibition at the National Library of Australia. The library holds about 3000 colour transparencies made by Peter Dombrovskis and at the moment they are exhibiting 70 of them.

You may not recognise the name but you will probably recognise this photo taken by Dombrovskis. It was used by the Wilderness Society in their campaign to prevent the damming of the Franklin and Gordon Rivers in Tasmania in the 1980s. It was a very successful example of political propaganda and probably swung the 1983 Federal election to a victory for Bob Hawke and the Labor Party.

Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River.
A photograph by Peter Dombrovskis.
Dombrovskis walked the remote Tasmanian wilderness alone and carried heavy photographic equipment as well as supplies and camping equipment. The results are outstanding and if you get a chance go see the exhibition for yourself. You have until 30 January. Or buy the associated book called  Journeys into the Wild: The photography of Peter Dombrovskis, with an introduction by Bob Brown.

1 comment:

Ken Bushwalker said...

I remember they had an exhibition of his photos at the local council art gallery. They look even better as a large print.