Mildura Campus

Maria Walpole

My portfolio: "For Whose Eyes" was named for my particular experience on the Edge of the Outback Photography program. I saw so many stunningly beautiful places that I couldn't help but wonder why they were there!

As I stared in silence at the dreamlike sunset over the Walls of China at Mungo National Park, I thought — Whose eyes was this meant for? That question remains unanswered for me. It overwhelmed me to think that such beautiful things existed regardless of whether or not they were appreciated. They were, in a sense, for nobody's eyes.

I felt some sort of obligation to attempt to record these experiences in some way — to preserve some evidence of the grandeur I had so luckily intruded upon during my trip. Perhaps — For all our eyes.

It was frustrating at times, trying to capture something so expansively beautiful on a two-dimensional filmstrip. The experience was more than aesthetic. No matter how nicely a landscape appeared on my film, it didn't seem to represent the reality quite right.

In the end, as I processed my film and scrolled through my endless digital files I admired the way my classmates had succeeded in capturing the reality of the scenery. I also found that my best photographs were not those I had expected. My most truthful photographs were those that captured the experience in the eyes of my classmates, my roommates — my friends.

Please select an image

• 
• 
• 
•