Dombrovskis: journeys into the wild by Peter Dombrovskis
Dombrovskis: journeys into the wild (March 9-May 12) is a survey of one of the world's foremost wilderness photographers, Tasmania's Peter Dombrovskis (1945–96). He was the first Australian to be inducted (posthumously) into the International Photography Hall of Fame in 2003.
Reproduction courtesy of the National Library of Australia copy
His powerful, reflective and deeply personal images of the unique Tasmanian wilderness had a lasting impact. His images changed the way Australians think about their environment by making remote nature accessible through images. Through their use in environmental campaigns, Dombrovskis’s images have become shorthand for environmental concerns in Australia. Particularly memorable was the image ‘Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend’ that Bob Brown (later to become Leader of the Greens Party) used in the ‘No Dams’ campaign to save the Franklin River. Seldom in the history of photography has there been as clear an example of visual culture bearing such political sway.
Presenting a vast sweep of the artist’s images – almost 80 – this exhibition was initially developed by the National Library of Australia from their comprehensive collection of Dombrovskis’s work.
His works are held in the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the Australian Heritage Commission, as well as private collections.
Dombrovskis once commented “photography is, quite simply, a means of communicating my concern for the beauty of the Earth.”
