(Vanished Scenes) From an Untouched Landscape 4 2017

Summary

This photograph by James Tylor is from the series 'Scenes from an Untouched Landscape' in which the artist highlights the contemporary absence of Aboriginal cultures within the Australian landscape, and how this phenomenon is a direct result of the impact of European colonisation. The images in the series were taken in South Australia and Western Victoria. Images of landscapes are considered Australia’s most characteristic art subject. Yet historically, most landscapes of this country document a place that is completely absent of any representation of First Nations culture. In Tylor’s photographs, this absence is represented through a cut out in each photograph which forces us to pause and reconsider the landscape.

James Tylor is an artist with Nunga (Kaurna), Maori (Te Arawa) and European (English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Norwegian) ancestry and explores Australian cultural representations through this multicultural lens. Using photography, his work explores the history of 19th-century Australia, and its continual effect on present-day issues surrounding cultural identity and the environment.