Cooks River, 760 – 860nm
2021
Infrared photograph, dye sublimation print on aluminium panel
Diptych, 36 x 61cm
Shot in Infrared, Cooks River, 760 – 860nm focuses on a light source beyond the frame, capturing an image of the world outside of human perception. Natural landscape elements contrast constructed ones, the remnant river a reflection of alternate possibilities. Existing beyond the visible light spectrum, infrared light from the setting sun is reflected by chlorophyl in plant foliage rendering it ghostly white and absorbed into shadow by the body of water and its concrete tomb. Referencing sublime landscapes with their painterly visions of an industrial hell, the photograph in these images is mirrored Rorschach-like, lurid colour set against the monochrome to create alternate visions of this unearthly scene. Cooks River, 760 – 860nm reflects upon on the nature of reality and the human ideologies that have led to this present moment. It considers changes in the relationship between spirituality and the natural world, the death of rivers, and the existential divide we have forged between ourselves and a living cosmos.