Image Ecologies | James Farley & Jacob Raupach

Shortlisted for the Australia & New Zealand Photobook Award 2018

ANZPA Judge’s Comment - Image Ecologies is a book for this moment in our history with the threat of global warming hovering in the subtext of every image. It is a brilliantly packaged, carefully structured suite of books that investigate place and the impact of mining through photography. The authors have spent a lot of time researching, and while each volume drills deeper into the geological, social and environmental history of Broken Hill, it presents complex ideas with clarity and simplicity.

Image Ecologies is a photographic enquiry into the post-industrial condition of one of New South Wales’ most iconic and remote cities. As Australia’s first heritage city, Broken Hill is celebrated for its continuous one-hundred-and-thirty-five-year history of mining operations, the struggle and victories won by steadfast trade unions, and the pioneering environmental groundwork carried out by passionate community groups. The city was established around some of the earth’s richest mineral deposits and has generated more than three hundred billion dollars for various multinational corporations in this century-long endeavour.

However, today Broken Hill tells a much different story. It is representative of many remote communities; facing declining populations, more frequent and extreme weather events, and economic uncertainty. Yet, in the face of this future, the community of Broken Hill appears to be driving a period of rapid cultural transformation. Moving away from the extractive economies of the past to embrace a more sustainable and post-industrial future, embracing cultural economies and the transformative power of renewable energy. Drawing from images created between 2015 and 2018, Image Ecologies attempts to grapple with these complexities of place; unfolding as an observation of how these overlapping histories are woven into the surfaces and environments of Broken Hill.