Outback

Much of Australia is outback, looking over a map or a globe one could be forgiven for thinking just about all Australia is outback.

Oddly most Australians have little or nothing to do with this defining characteristic of the country. Perhaps for this reason it is often represented as being both beautiful and romantic. This aspect of conventual beauty is continually reinforced by the work of generations of photographers who have gone to great lengths to seek out and capture the most exceptional aspects of it under the most flattering light.

Instead almost total emptiness prevails and the mundane. Settlements are often characterized by the utter disregard given them by their inhabitants.

From the air the outback can resemble a dried up ocean. Indeed road trips are more akin to ocean voyages.

In my work I seek to challenge this concept of conventual beauty and endeavor to more honestly represent the outback. There is beauty in the mundane, just a different kind of beauty.

Michael Hall

Michael Hall has been a practicing professional photographer for over 20 years. Throughout that time, he has built a considerable reputation in Australia and internationally as both a fine art and commercial photographer. He was selected as Photographer of the Year in 2006 by the Federation of European Photographers, and in 2004 won the Canon New Zealand Architectural Photographer of the Year. More recently, Michael was announced as a finalist in the Hasselblad Masters 2009. 
His fine art work focuses specifically on exploring human impact upon the landscape. Michael invests much time and energy in personal photographic projects – projects that engage with compelling and often confronting issues that ultimately affect us all. He is currently undertaking an extensive project to document the causes and effects of climate change to improve ecological awareness around the world.

www.michaelhall.net