Altitude South exhibition takes flight
A new aerial exhibition more than two years in the making will finally take flight next week, when Altitude South opens at the Barossa Regional Gallery.
The brainchild of aerial photographer David Dahlenburg, alongside photographers Tim Wrate and Paul Hoelen, the project involved more than 4000km of flights around the remotest areas of South Australia in a small Cessna, capturing images of some of the least known and photographed features and areas of the state.
"David had spent countless hours pouring over maps to come up with an ambitious plan to fly from Port Pirie to Birdsville and back via Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and the vast expanses of the Channel Country," explains Tim Wrate.
Tim says that the trio spent 20 hours capturing the imagery in the exhibition, with more than 20,000 images captured in total, alongside hours of video footage that was whittled down into a 10-minute short film.
The photographers experienced a huge diversity of features, ranging from salt lakes, coastal intertidal flats, sand dunes, mining sites, tailing ponds, creeks and mountain ranges.
"The photographs are abstract, yet they are also real pictures of the landscape that explore the broader cultural, historical, and modern legacy of SA," says Tim.
The trio were also keen to ensure they captured a diversity of subject matter, including not only the 'organic interplay' between land, water, wind, and rain, but also the devastation and beauty of the human impact on the environment.
"Some of our subjects are quite beautiful, others less so," explains Tim.
Ultimately though, the photographers hope their work will inspire others.
"Our goal is to inspire those who see our work to look more carefully at the world around them, to discover beauty in unusual places and to see South Australia like they’ve never seen it before."
Altitude South runs from 7 June until 24 July, with an artist's talk on the 17 June at 2pm. The exhibition is free.
You can find out more about the exhibition on the Barossa Gallery website here.