Author(s): Rohan Hutchinson

Photography

Encounters is a project that situates itself in Victorian High Plains. Like many mountain ranges, the region entices curiosity and adventure, a land where seasonal trends work in conjunction with seasonal activities, and the cycle, until recently, remained uninterrupted. The 2019 bushfires are evidence of this. The approach began with photographic investigations, a land previously observed from a close distance and one Hutchinson assumed knowledge of. He set out on monthly multiday treks that spanned two- years. His assignment was to capture the landscape's seasonal transformation.In the early phases of this project, the trajectory quickly changed; in fieldwork, reading the environment through a Eurocentric seasonal calendar proved ineffective, and the encounters with the macro and micro-environment exposed a new unseen landscape. Weather conditions, previously assumed, shifted without notice, and the changing transformation presented a unique environment of uncertainty and fragility.What began with an investigation into ecology and geology quickly became self-reflective; Encounters, as a publication, presents the findings from the project, each page describing a macro or micro encounter of the environment and, as a complete volume, the climatic anomalies taking place within the diverse landscape.