A Moment in Time – Nurragingy Reserve (2023)

Nurragingy Reserve, Dhurag land, Western Sydney, Australia

  

“A Moment in Time – Nurragingy Reserve” is a series of Photographs \ that depict the physical environment by incorporating photography and physical elements of the environment. The photographs were taken at Nurragingy Reserve National Park on the 19th of March with a Canon A1, using Ilford 35mm HP5 Black and white film and then souped in a mixture of natural elements including dirt, flowers, lake water and leaves for 24 hours. The photographs are unedited to stay true to the Kodak Moment.  The interaction between the emulsion and soup left a one-of-a-kind effect that depicts both the deterioration of the emulsion and the growth that has formed on the negative. This work explores how time is an ongoing concept, and after we visit a place, it will never be the same as it was when we saw it. By taking elements of the land and observing their effect on the still image, we see the relationship between nature and its natural but destructive decaying process. This leaves us with an image that captures that process through a moment in time. The work aims to break down the wall between photographer and subject by combining these two elements. Photographs are an observation of time, and this relationship between material matter and subject matter intertwines.

Everything is and is not, for everything is fluid, constantly changing, coming into being, and passing away. The only constant in life is change. – Heraclitus