Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

This is Alex Panelli’s contribution to the FOBIF turns 25 show.

What matters to me about this country is its happening. It happens with me now, up close and all around. I am immersed in it, psychologically entangled. There are foreshadowings here and absences; offerings and traces.

It was in my childhood and with my family that I first came – to an ancestral place, seemingly empty, waiting for us. Much later, in 2009, it drew me again. I came, this time alone. At first then I took photos mainly of flowers, but there were also the slim trunks of Candlebarks wavering in the glow that comes through fog when the sun is rising. I moved on to tangled bush and singular trees, still often in fog or deeply shaded frost with the sun beyond them. I lay on the ground, took photos through grass. In the dust of summer, photos of shadows, myself amongst them. Torsos of bravely dying trees, and of human things discarded. Of fallen leaves in amber water in the hollows of a stream, and of reflections on a pool of water’s surface.

Looking at these things later, I was disappointed. I am not a great photographer but that was not the problem. Slowly and more deeply I came to realise, however consummate a photo may appear, each thing that joins our gaze – the intense self-presence of an opening flower, the living poise of a bird, whether at rest or in motion, or the decaying, life-giving looming of an ancient tree that waits to fall – they are with us, we meet. Each meeting – a mutual exposure – we are in it, it can surprise us, it leaves a trace. And each one joins us intimately with all that is unfocussed and still unsaid around it. I would like my photos to acknowledge this.

Click on the thumbnail sized photos to enlarge.

As explained in a previous post all contributions to the FOBIF turns 25 exhibition are welcome and will be posted on this site. A selection will be chosen for display in at the Arts Hub, which will run between 25 February to 13 March 2023. 

To celebrate 25 years of Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forest we are planning an exhibition at the Newstead Arts Hub, 25 February to 13 March 2023. There will be a new photo show; geology exhibits; children’s art; and posters; pamphlets and photos about FOBIF’s history. 

This time we won’t have a single theme for the photo show. Instead we would like people to send an image/s which shows something about the local natural environment that they find interesting or special in some way. Photos can includes landscapes and all local fauna and flora. Also we would like participants to write a short piece (100-300) words) explaining the choice. 

Joy Clusker has sent a a fungi image with accompanying text as an example. 

Earthstar Geastrum triplex

Mount Alexander is wonderful on an autumn morning, midweek you can have the place to yourself. The mist hangs around till lunchtime, casting a mysterious veil over everything. In the silence all you can hear is water dripping from the trees, and calls from the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. Then from out of the gloom is a shine from a perfect Earthstar, Geastrum triplex, still dusted with water droplets, contrasting with the dark forest floor. A fleeting occurrence witnessed by few, busy working on its purpose to consume the substrate and reproduce itself.

So if you have a favourite photo/s of the bush in our region send them along to FOBIF (info@fobif.org.au) with a description. There is plenty of time to take new photos: the closing date for the submission of photos is not till 1 February 2023. You can send a small file for display on the website but you will need to send a second large file for printing by 1 February.

We will place all photos in a designated page on the FOBIF site. A FOBIF sub-committee will then select approximately 15 photos to be printed and framed for the exhibition. The text will be printed and displayed next to the photo. Photos will be for sale with proceeds used to cover costs.

If your photo is selected, as well as being included in the exhibition, you will receive a free copy of your photo.

Ring Bronwyn Silver 044875111 for more information.