Big Sky

My mother grew up in Yeoval, a small farming village that was also the childhood home of Banjo Paterson, the poet who romanticized life in the Australian bush. Until my grandfather passed away, our family Christmases always featured a slide carousel—projecting images of Nan, Pa, and their five daughters dressed in white English pomp for a country show or horse races. There were also photographs of my great-grandparents on their wheat and sheep farm, shaping my early impressions of the Australian bush and the legacy of European settlement.

My post-colonial family history reflects a social fabric that once defined Australia’s rural interior. Pastoralism has long been integral to the nation’s economy, culture, and environment, yet the realities of the bush are far more complex. Colonization led to the profound dispossession of First Nations peoples—severing them from their lands, language, and traditions.

This ongoing degradation of Country has been compounded by the escalating climate crisis. The burning of coal, oil, and gas has intensified extreme weather events—bushfires, floods, heatwaves, and storms. According to the Climate Council, 84% of Australians have been directly impacted by at least one climate-related disaster since 2019. Droughts and environmental upheavals continue to reshape not only the land but also the livelihoods, identities, and cultural landscapes of those who call the bush home. Australia’s shifting terrain is a harbinger of environmental calamity to come.

Big Sky is a photographic survey of Australia’s heartland. Drawing from childhood memories and travelling documentation, I observe fading iconic traditions, shrinking small towns, Aboriginal connection to Country, pastoralism, the forces of globalization, and the adversity of climate change. Through this work, I aim to challenge and reposition archetypal notions of Australian identity against the complexities of contemporary life in Australia’s arid interior.