Bushfire: Our community responds
Richard Woldendorp

Richard Woldendorp is well known for his aerial photographs of the Australian landscape. From such a height, these two images show a series of patterns rather than real forms – the white, abstract shapes of Bushfire pattern and the looping, red lines in Scrub fire appear sublime. The heat and danger of the ranging bushfires that created these marks have been replaced with the strange and powerful beauty associated with major natural occurrences. Importantly, Woldendorp’s photographs also show the fragility of the landscape and the need for its care, conservation and renewal.

 

Richard WOLDENDORP
born The Netherlands 1927, arrived Australia 1950
Scrub fire 1981
cibachrome photograph
50.6 x 38.8 cm
Purchased, 1981
National Gallery of Victoria