Photography is my meditation, nature my muse. Through the macro lens, the world is new again, undiscovered. It offers quiet contemplation on who and what we are - all life forces, living organisms seeking ways to survive and thrive.
All photographic collections available for purchase as limited edition prints. Please visit the shop, or enquire directly to Alison at create@alisonshirley.com.au
River Tiles
In collecting images of the ebb and flow of tides, I was captivated by the shapes and patterns that every moment of movement created and erased and created again elsewhere. I had to stay out of the way of it, to allow the patterns to form. However, we always impact what happens, are a part of each event. I am mesmerised by the patterns that are present, occurring and recurring before me and with me. These tiles are my meditation on how we form and reform, construct and destruct and how we can create instead of destroy our world. These tiles hope to hold your thoughts on those tiny immeasurable moments of silence and presence by the water.
Return to the Heart
In 2021 I returned to the country where I was born, Alice Springs. Arrernte. It felt important, in the year I turned 50, to be in my soul place. This region has many stunning sites, some of the ones appearing in these photos include Kwartatuma, Tjoritja and Angkerle. Can you feel the peace and the spirit of these gorges just by looking for a time?
This series, ‘Fragility and Grace’ came about from the investigations of study. In 2020 I undertook Honours in Fine Art, Dance at VCA. Within the research of this course, my photographic practice spoke for me and collected information and meditations, where I was unable to meet with dancers and explore movement in the same space together. I was seeking to learn and observe how we hold stories and histories in our physical bodies, right when our human stories were going under great change and challenge with Covid19. In collecting the information that I observed around me in nature, I gained insight into how other living organisms hold their stories and even in death and decay, tell a story of what has passed. It also was a lesson in how delicate and exquisite these fragments of life can be - that fragility has its beauty. (This series also accompanies a longer running theme of my macro work, title Beauty In Decay).
SKINS is another series gleaned from the act of looking around me. Of focussing on what is already there to find and see. Skins is a collection of bark details that remind me of how our skin plays a role in our stories, holding our stories in scars and textures and our heritage in tones and reactions to light. Trees give us information about their heritage and stories too, through this similar kind of skin. Many trees in my community have so much history and story - and were witness to all that happened in this place, when only Indigenous people inhabited this land. They hold some truths we have never been taught.
FIJI was a place I visited in 2018. I was looking at some interesting and challenging aspects of my family history, which led me to the deep interior of Viti Levu, the place where my ancestor had been murdered and eaten in 1867. Despite the brutal story of this massacre, the surrounds only whispered of tranquility and vibrancy. Surrounded by beauty, investigating death, I was in two minds.
Where could I even start to understand the cultural clash, the intensity of life, the deep misunderstandings? I found a multitude of different accounts to one story, there was no one truth to unfold. We each hold our stories with histories and cultures and religions and beliefs that shape our understanding and reading. The glorious botanicals were a reminder of what we share - a will to live and be who we are.
The Big Dry, Myrniong. This series came about at a time when Victoria was suffering through an extended drought. On my drive home from the city I would wonder at the incredibly white landscape. It made it hard to imagine ever seeing green again on those hillsides and paddocks. Always looking for beauty and lessons in my surrounds, I searched out the patterns, the colours and the moods of the landscape that inspired and frightened me at the same time.
MINI TREE is a series which speaks to the patterns in our world that repeat themselves and appear in multiple magnifications. This tiny botanical is alike its larger tree companions in shape and appearance. My interest in trees and plants increased in 2020 as I researched their similarities to ourselves and I found reflected back at us as humans. I learnt about Fractals in nature. A fractals is a mathematical description of “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.” according to https://www.diygenius.com/fractals-in-nature When we start looking at ourselves as an element of nature, the relationship keeps expanding and deepening.
A slight change in angle of the same subject can shift the mood and texture and shades dramatically. I love that such small details can loom so large in the effect they create. I love exploring that with each new subject. Allowing the time to move and watch and capture those differences is my favourite way to photograph. The depth of colours, shades and textures can create beautiful surprises.
ICE. It seems so simple, it appears as one sheet or slab of frozen water - but take a closer look and we can see so much more. The way that light dances with the ice is captivating. Each new angle or direction of view shows a new pattern a new interaction, a new dance. The variations are endless, hence my love of light and the macro lens! Look closely at something you’ve seen a hundred times - I guarantee you will see something new. If you need newness in your world, this is handy to remember.
Kata Jutka and Uluru, Northern Territory. These places hold the power to leave you speechless. My heart is at its full capacity when I am here. I feel it’s power and life-source swell within me. Here, the environment can be harsh and unforgiving, yet stunningly captivating. The heart, the red centre, where the energy is powerful and sacred. The power and spirituality that Indigenous people speak of is clear and vibrantly present. Their guardianship is vital. This is the region where my soul feels at home.