Cradle Mountain by starlight
Published in Australian Camera 2006, this is a feature on the Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery.
Text and Pictures by Tim Dub
The Wilderness Gallery
The Wilderness Gallery would be at home in any of the great cities of the world, but its actual setting is much more unlikely, and much more remote. It is sited just a few kilometres from the iconic Cradle Mountain at the start of the Overland Track, which weaves through a Tasmanian wilderness so beautiful and precious, it has been given World Heritage listing.
Some might imagine that today there is no longer any need for a Gallery with its relatively few pictures, now that the “Information Age” has brought near instant access to a limitless supply of imagery; but that would be completely wrong.
Wilderness Gallery at night
A 16 x 24 ins professionally-produced picture, can have a lustrous, almost tangible feel with a wealth of subtle tones and exquisite detail, and an impact that elicits a moment of stillness and awe - an entry into the realm of art. When did you last hear yourself say “amazing”, “wonderful” (or anything equivalent) when leafing through a catalogue? Interestingly, looking through the Wilderness Gallery catalogue illustrates the point perfectly. The same pictures that cause a passing appreciation seen as thumbnails, are astounding when displayed in their full glory on the walls. However, as we all know; size alone is not enough and the Wilderness Gallery has assembled a magnificent collection of photographs.
The purpose-built gallery is in the grounds of the Cradle Mountain Chateau Hotel, acquired in October 2004 by the Federal Hotels group from the original developer Doherty Hotels. The idea for the gallery stemmed from a conversation between Michael Doherty and the Greens Senator Bob Brown, who believed it would help the conservation effort if visitors were inspired to better appreciate the value of wilderness by outstanding photography. The gallery was opened in January 2003 and the first director and curator was Patricia Sabine (she left in June 2004), who previously had been director of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart.
Most of the walls of the nearby Hotel are lined with images that were in storage at the Gallery, a display that is itself so interesting, that apparently a lot of guests never make it across the road, mistakenly imagining that they have already visited the Gallery on their way to breakfast.
The Wilderness Gallery is the largest privately-owned gallery dedicated to photography in the Southern Hemisphere (rivaled in the northern Hemisphere only by the Ansel Adams gallery in Yosemite National Park, California). Displaying approximately 250 pictures, its 11 rooms with approximately 3000 sq. metres of floor space, are arranged around a central square garden area. Entrance is through a gift shop selling a variety of types of honey, quality Tasmanian craft work, books, posters and other memorabilia.
The displays are themed, with spaces dedicated to travelling exhibitions and competitions (rotated approximately every 6 months) and other longer-term exhibitions. It is hoped to establish a permanent exhibition area for the Tasmanian Peter Dombrovskis, whose name has become synonymous with the Tasmanian wilderness, and who was the first Australian photographer to be inducted into The International Photography Hall of Fame. Throughout the gallery are various sculptures, most, in subject matter or material, with an unmistakable Tasmanian relevance such as “Tiger Hunt - Thylacine in Bronze” by Eddie Wentorf, though outside the Birds Exhibition is a 150 cm high tongue-in-cheek reference to photography - “The Greater Ribbed Reostilt Pellicula Ferro Corrugata” (translated loosely as “view camera on legs looking remarkably like a bird”) by Dave Broos, resident photographer and technical guru for the gallery.
Dave Broos in front of a photograph by him of a Wedge Tailed Eagle
The Birds Exhibition was co-curated by Dave Broos and Coordinator Tracy Thomas. Featuring the work of 12 photographers, some of the photographs are wonderful. It is perhaps unfair to single out any particular photographer because the standard is so consistently high but (Tim Dub) favourites are “Barn Owls” by Ted Mead, an unrivaled study of companionship; “Blue Tit” by Dave Watts , an astonishing fly-on-the-wall insight into a very busy nest and creamy-toned “Cattle Egret Preening” by Raoul Slater, a painterly picture of serene perfection.
One of the contributors to the Birds Exhibition - Maisaaki Aihara - has no fewer than three rooms devoted to his own landscape exhibition entitled “Talking to the Spirits of the Land”. The work of this Tokyo-based photographer has been skillfully augmented by the physical arrangement of the displays e.g. four vertical panoramas evoke a Japanese screen. If B&W photography is essentially about form, tone and texture, then the Japanese aesthetic of skilfully juxtaposing simple blocks of colour, has surely captured the essence of colour photography.
The captions to his pictures are a delight in themselves. They suggest Aihara is a multifaceted man from “Perfectionist” (shoots 40 rolls per day to capture one wave photograph) to “Wit” (after 40 rolls per day thinks perhaps the camera should incorporate a cost counter).
Nearby, a room is full of equine pictures from a recent competition run to coincide with the Tom Quilty Endurance Horse Race, that was held in the verdant paddocks that encircle the pretty township of Sheffield, beneath the shadow of the imperious Mt Roland, just half an hour drive down the tortuous descent from the central plateau. Again, the ubiquitous and versatile Raoul Slater is a standout contributor, taking the Judges Prize but not the first Prize. His pictures combine insight with humour, technical excellence and, repeatedly, a glimpse of that critical moment in which the exceptional can be snatched from the mundane e.g. a ray of sunshine slices through trees to erupt as a cauldron of golden light behind a horse and rider; a horse and his trainer interchange expressions; the grace and beauty of back-lit horses is captured by the entwined blurring of a panning camera and a slow shutter speed.
A previous competition on a “Sense of Place” had no fewer than 730 entrants which were culled to just 65 to be exhibited. The Quilty, with just two months from announcement to hanging, had a more manageable 125. Other rooms house a study of Albatrosses, work by Richard Bennett and an exhibition best described by its title - “Intimate Landscapes” by Simon Olding. This last is also of technical interest, because the photographer delivered prints to the gallery that he had done himself on an Epson Stylus Photo 2100 using Ultrachrome inks on Epson Archival Matt paper.
Most prints are done by a professional lab called CPL Services in Melbourne. They are printed on a Lander or Pegasus printer (costing hundreds of thousands) after being scanned on a big flatbed or drum scanner. These printers use a digital file and an LED light source onto light sensitive paper in a wet chemistry process similar to RA4 to produce a chromogenic print costing approximately $180 dollars for a 30 ins print.
Carrawong
Virtually every picture in the Gallery announces triumphantly that it is a “Type C Silver Halide Chromogenic print”, except for the aforementioned Simon Olding whose work is on an InkJet. This repetition becomes a major source of frustration in the gallery, not because of what we are told, but because of what we are not told. There is no mention of camera type (digital or film), format, lens, film type or exposure detail. Nothing to aid the admiring viewer to progress from “Wow” to “How” to “Could I have done that?” - a normal, healthy and learning appreciation of a photograph. Apparently, it was the opinion of the original Curator, who had a fine art background, that people were only interested in the image and not the technique. Most keen photographers would disagree.
If you want to be exhibited at the Gallery put together a portfolio of work, digitally or as a proof sheet, and it will be assessed as either appropriate for any upcoming exhibitions or for a solo show, but note that a program of exhibitions is already well established until the middle of 2006. If not able to be used in the foreseeable future, material is held on file. Unlike picture libraries, there is no restriction on number of images that must be sent. Terms are negotiable (pictures sell from approximately $100-$600, the majority around $300) and depend, in part, on how much work the gallery has to do to get the pictures on the walls. Some photographers hand over framed pictures, others just slides. There is no bias against non-Tasmanian contributors (in fact as the current exhibitions confirm, a “visitors view” is of great interest) but it would be fair to say that fresh images of Tasmania will be received favourably, though this can be widely interpreted e.g. a recent exhibition contrasted images of Tasmania with Patagonia and the Himalayas.
The possibility of attracting major traveling exhibitions is being considered and the web site is being revamped. It is envisaged that the scope of the gallery will widen to become more of an “Environmental Gallery”, with everything from microscopy to satellite imagery considered for inclusion. But at this point, the Gallery remains relatively unknown - it is quite possible to meet a photographer with a Hasselblad and tripod at the mountain who is unaware he is a few kilometres away from the finest collection of Landscape photography in Australia.
Dave Broos wants to change all that.
“It should be a place where people say, why not go to Tassie to visit the Wilderness Gallery, and while we are there, we can duck down the road and have a look at Cradle Mountain”.