Em
‘It seems terrifying when you look at the big picture. I try to stay a bit smaller and focus on my life and, of course, (to) stay politically aware. It does seem overwhelming when we have conversations about climate change and trying to buy a house somewhere, and what the future looks like.’
There are so many concerns for young people about the future, and I truly believe many of them could be solved if we were all able to work together towards a common goal; to put aside the need to fight and cancel each other, and instead to show empathy and have conversations with one another.
I made these photos in Broken Hill; a fairly small and wildly remote outback town in New South Wales. The town is an interesting dichotomy of subcultures with opposing views. On one hand, it’s one of the oldest union towns in Australia, and a mining town. But it’s seen an influx of young people and artists, inspired by the amazing light and natural landscape. While these two groups fundamentally disagree on almost everything, they have no choice but to somehow co-exist given the size of the town; they shop at the same supermarkets, drink at the same pubs and see each other every day. It's an interesting case study on how things may work if we were all exposed to views we didn't agree with, and the power of having conversations to better understand and empathise with one another.
Em is based in Naarm (Melbourne), although she’s often on a road trip in the outback. She photographs predominantly on analog mediums. Her work explores themes of nostalgia, fringe subcultures and the Australian character, with a particular focus on sharing the stories of interesting folk who live in regional and remote parts of the country.