Exhibition: Bone Country – David Stephenson

‘In a career spanning four decades, David Stephenson has produced some of the most powerful photographic images in contemporary art.  Stephenson’s ability to capture the vast and terrifying beauty of both our natural and industrial landscapes is unrivalled; rendering his exploration of the cosmological and technological sublime, truly awe-inspiring. From the domes and cupolas of humankind’s greatest architectural achievements, to the infinite stars in the vaulted night sky, Stephenson’s images are humbling and exultant — each a monument to majesty.

After working mostly with digital photography over the past ten years, in 2019 Stephenson went back to the folding wooden field camera and 5 x 7 black and white sheet film used in his earliest work. Survivors continues his long-term exploration of that quintessential Australian tree genus, Eucalyptus. We are only recently learning some of the many secrets of the arboreal world, with its complex networks and hidden ecosystems. These tree portraits are memorials to survivors and victims of bruising encounters with the human species. Whether dead or clinging to life amidst the onslaughts of fire, drought, over-grazing, logging and hydroelectric drowning, the trees offer testimony to perseverance and endurance over long lives’. Bett Gallery website.

Bett Gallery, Hobart, until 24 August 2024