Salt, Lake Eyre Photographs 2008
MURRAY FREDERICKS
Salt is a series of photographs of vast space and emptiness. Lake Eyre was chosen as an appropriate location as its perfectly flat surface and razor sharp horizon provides a landscape devoid of features, which extends, once out on the Lake, in every direction.
Each image in the series is connected by the placement of the horizon running across the lower third of the frame. The horizon is often the only referential form, breaking the void and providing the viewer with an element that paradoxically 'defines' the space. It is an inclusion that introduces no perspective, but denies total abstraction, grounding the viewer within the apparent reality of the photograph. The set composition also leads the project away from a pictorial description of the Lake, allowing the imagery to convey 'essence' over 'place'.
The project commenced in 2003 and each year has included at least one month long visit camped alone at (or on) the Lake. Initially camping on the edge of the Lake and walking out to the salt to photograph, I found that time, energy and opportunity was being lost traveling back and forth across the mud that rings the salt. In 2006 I moved camp out into the middle of the Lake where I was completely immersed and able to work continuously, returning to the 'shore' every 10 days for supplies.
There is nothing 'fast' about this project. The first two years work proved to be 'developmental' and has never been exhibited. During that time various compositions and photographic technologies were explored finally arriving at the 'low-horizon' approach and settling with the 8" x 10" film format. The large plates of film allow compositions to be made out of the subtlest of gradations and transitions in the sky and in the surface of the lake.
During the visits of 2007-8, the project developed again. An HD video camera, time lapse equipment and a high-resolution digital stills system was carried out onto the Lake along with the 'traditional' format. Footage of the trip was seen by director Michael Angus, who immediately 'recognized' a documentary in the making. Michael obtained significant funding from the ABC, the Adelaide Film Festival and the Film Finance Corporation to produce 'SALT'. The documentary has its premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in February. It then tours festivals during 2009 and will be screened on the ABC later in the year.
The high-resolution digital stills camera was used to capture a panoramic 180 degree view of day transitioning into night, an image that could not be produced using the 'traditional' film system. The first of these 'wide-format' images (Salt 302) is part of the current exhibition.
Ultimately the work is about engagement and is intentionally not self conscious or critical. It attempts to represent an experience of removing limitations and moving beyond self.
The series is ongoing.
Murray Fredericks |
