Wild researchers

Updated

When asked to describe a scientist or researcher, many people conjure up an image of an elderly man in a white lab coat, with glasses resting on his nose and wild hair framing his face, surrounded by test tubes and beakers.

Photographer Tamara Dean joined forces with UNSW to shatter that tired stereotype and shine a light on the work of "unsung heroes" in fields like Indigenous astronomy, marine ecology and climate science.

This brought together my two loves – nature and art making. Nature is a fundamental part of my life. My entire background underpinning my work is about the relationship between humans and nature, and I try and build a story into that. Tamara Dean

I think a lot of images that you see of researchers are in a lab, or in a lab coat – in a particular way we have been taught to see them. The idea of taking them out into the area that they work in was a really exciting way for me to tap into how they fit into the big picture.

I wanted to photograph researchers out in the field to create a symbolic representation, as opposed to a literal representation. I was able to look at what they did and create a symbolic image that showed them in their element. It was a beautiful way of bringing my art practice into this project.

It is an interesting time in Australia where it feels like to be an environmentalist is such a big thing because you have so much more scope for making change. I wanted to show them in a light that reflected that.

Duane was the first person I photographed in the series, and it is a favourite. It is really special – a 45 second exposure of Duane sitting beneath stars. The stars are representational of an emu in the Indigenous story he was telling me. He is sitting there with an emu rising above him. It has a beautiful sense of symbolism, and shows us how small we are in the world. It has such a wealth and depth of history and culture and lore.

I hope people looking at these images get a new sense of respect for researchers, inspiration from the relationship we have to the natural environment, and a new sense of value to the environment we live in.

The Wild Researchers exhibition runs until December 13 at the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Topics: science-and-technology, academic-research, research-organisations, photography, arts-and-entertainment, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

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