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Richard Green visits the most remote parts of the Australian outback to capture the country’s majestic, untouched beauty unlike any photographer before. Opens at Byron McMahon Gallery, 27 August 2008.
The Sydney-based photographer’s first solo exhibition in Sydney is a provocative and intensely lyrical collection of landscape images showing the stark beauty of Australia’s most remote areas. Importantly, many of the regions he records have never previously been captured photographically.
Wild Places comprises more than 20 breath-taking Australian panorama landscapes and portraits. Large in content and scale, several of the images are more than two metres long to suitably depict the poetic beauty of the Australian bush in its majestic proportions. From the wide open skies of the Central Deserts to the heat-scorched Top End and the wind-stripped Tasmanian Wilderness, each is a testament to Australia’s natural environment which has stood the test of time.
“Richard Green’s photographs bring Australia’s landscape to life in a fresh celebration of the breathtakingly beautiful environment in which we live. Green’s images are aesthetically overpowering and a very humbling reminder of the pure, raw splendour of nature,” said Gallery Director Sandra Byron.
Born in England and trained as a physicist, Green sold his technology conventions business in the late 1980s to take early retirement. Soon after, he obtained his helicopter pilot’s licence and emigrated to Australia to further his two favourite passions, photography and flying. Thanks to his helicopter, he has been able to photograph the most remote parts of Australia, many of which are not accessible by land even with a four-wheel drive.
For the past 20 years he and his wife, Carolyn, have made regular trips exploring and photographing outback Australia. Surprisingly, this is Green’s first solo exhibition in Sydney. But the photographer says it is only through recent developments in digital technology that he has been able to achieve a level of quality which meets his satisfaction. Using 17 and 21 mega-pixel cameras, his preferred style is to merge multiple high resolution images to create one photograph of astounding depth and detail.
Green’s work is not without its dangers. “We spend a lot of time flying over 'tiger country' and the twin turbine helicopter gives us a good margin of safety. We are well aware that if we have a problem in most of these places there is no help for many hundreds of kilometres, so we need to be prepared for any eventuality. I have extensively modified the helicopter to incorporate full camping facilities including solar ground power, a fridge and deep freeze. I also carry a wide range of emergency equipment including spare parts and tools, and have been authorised by CASA to do all my own repairs on the helicopter. We carry over 40 litres of water and sufficient food to survive for several weeks out bush should we need it".
Fortunately, they have not needed it to-date. The risks he takes are, however, paying off. Having exhibited for the first time in 2007, Green is quickly building a reputation as an emerging and highly sought-after photographic talent. In the next six months, his works will go on display at the National Library in Canberra for the inaugural Vivid photographic festival. Several Richard Green landscapes will also be incorporated as large-scale backdrops into a new permanent display at The Australian Museum this June.
Green is hopeful that the popularity of his images will build environmental awareness. An active conservationist, he is passionate about the politics of climate change and commercialisation. “The potential impact of environmental damage is still not fully appreciated. I’d like to think my images may help convince politicians and the public that the environment’s protection is key to our continued existence on the planet. If significant changes are not made, in years to come my images will remain as a record of the magnificent wilderness that once existed.”
Richard Green’s images are in private collections in Canada, Germany, France, England, Africa and Australia.