Is the Why more important than the Wow

‘The times, they are a changing.’

Perhaps there isn’t a phrase that rings truer today. Bob Dylan wrote these lyrics a month before President Kennedy was assassinated and opened a concert the following night with this song. Dylan wrote this song specifically as a catalyst for change and together with Blowin’ in the Wind, they came to be the anthems that defined the Civil Rights Movement.

“Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn't see?”

Dylan is on my mind because we have just been to see the movie—A Complete Unknown. His lyrics spoke to the political, social and philosophical influences of the Sixties. The story of the meteoric rise of a completely unknown 19-year old musician is inspiring. But more than that, it reminded me of the context in which his music was written. The war in Vietnam, segregation and the threat of nuclear war was hanging over America. The movie highlights how his music defied the conventional norms of folk music and how it was embraced by a generation.

The issues that were being discussed as part of the 1960’s counter culture are no different to many we face today. Human sexuality, the rights of women and people of colour, marginalisation of LGBTQI people together with a heightened awareness of climate change.

But anyone voicing their concerns today is referred to disparagingly as being part of a woke agenda. The term itself was coined by African Americans around the 1930’s to highlight the social and political issues facing them, later evolving to include wider concerns. During the ‘Black Lives matter’ protest it was used to raise awareness about police shootings. 

If my photography contributes in a small way to promote any of these issues, I would wear that badge with pride.

The song’s of Bob Dylan and many other musicians such as the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Pink Floyd challenged the thinking of an entire generation and gave rise to many protest movements calling for change, fighting for a better future and giving a voice to the voiceless.

They were singing for us to wake up. To ‘stay woke’.

While the lyrics of songs are quite explicit about their messages, photography has also played an important role in driving change. In Australia, Peter Dombrovskis’s compelling image ‘Morning Mist’ of the Franklin River was instrumental in stopping the damming of this river and became a key issue in the 1983 Federal election in Australia.

While activism often relies on art, does art need a component of activism or at least narrative to be relevant?

Does good art need a component of activism?

When I studied the characteristics of winning image, I was taught to think in terms of where they fit within a triangle. At the base were the fundamentals of what made a good image—technique, lighting & post production. In the centre was composition, a point of focus & creativity. At the top was the icing on the cake—style, impact and narrative.

When our work is released into the world, it is interpreted and judged by those that view them. Professional photography competitions in Australia are often judged live by a panel of 5 judges, which can be exciting, especially when your image resonates with a judge and he or she argues in favour of your image to the rest of the panel. In genres like landscape photography, the narrative isn’t a commentary on social or political issues but rather environmental. It could simply be about conveying the beauty of the natural world we live in or a direct or subconscious call to action, such as to protect it from environmental harm.

When our work is released into the world, it develops a life of its own and new meanings, interpretations and judgements are layered over them. It is not always easy to step back and let this happen when it is your baby. But when the work resonates as Dylan’s songs did and people really connect with the meaning, metaphor and message of your image, it can be quite powerful.

Is the ‘why’ more important than the ‘wow’? I will leave that question open, for you to ponder.

I think as artists we are all driven to create work that is seen and understood. When we discover what inspires us, it is as if a fire has been lit within us. But finding our why is not as easy or straightforward as learning the fundamentals of how to use your camera. It evolves as we grow in our craft. As we spend time in reflection. As we are drawn to the work of other creatives and discover what resonates with us. As we photograph landscapes, or people or protests marches, issues we wish to highlight bubble up from within us.

Eventually we find what we want to ‘say’ with our photographs.

There was a time—perhaps a decade ago—I was convinced that we were becoming more conscious as a society. But perhaps that was the bubble I was immersed in. I spent five years living in a motorhome with my partner as he researched his PhD around Australia. We were looking at creating an alternative housing strategy that would prepare us for not just the climate and economic catastrophe we were headed toward, but also the loneliness pandemic. I began to document and write about some of these issues which I found resonated with me and to seek out projects that would enable me to highlight issues I cared about. I wasn’t consciously seeking to be an activist, but looking back, I see that there was a shift in my creative journey, when my art began to be an expression of my innermost feelings.

Watching a documentary about Mozart recently, I realised that his operas were very much about the struggles he dealt with in life, including his relationship with this father. They were also a reflection on the problems he saw in the hierarchical nature of the society he lived in. Perhaps this is part of the maturing that happens as we come into our own as creatives, spending time in inward reflection for inspiration, enabling that to come through in our work.

Art and creativity can bridge language and cultural barriers to provoke thought and shed light on injustice. Art has often been used as a medium to confront issues such as homophobia, climate inaction and draw attention to the human rights of marginalised communities. Art becomes activism in the  banners used in protest marchers, in many street art murals, and sometimes it is the thread that connects an entire photographic portfolio. Merely attending and sharing these images can also be a form of activism.

Perhaps it is time for us artists to create work that inspires thought and provokes a rebellion against social injustice, environmental inaction and the economic disparity that exists in the world today; all huge factors causing the unrest we see in society.

Below I am sharing a few of the projects I have been involved in and the context in which they came about, in the hope that they might inspire a spark of activism in you.

The arrival of asylum seekers and refugees by boat has often been weaponised by politicians in Australia to gain votes, especially amongst the older demographic who are more conservative by nature. In 2013, ‘Stop the Boats’ was used as a political slogan and pledge by Tony Abbott in the federal election to stop boat arrivals from many Asian countries including Sri Lanka, where I was born.

It was in this context, that I put forward a proposal to my local Council for a collaborative project during the HeadOn Photo Festival in 2015. HeadOn is the largest photo festival in Australia and is held in Sydney. It is a mix of author talks, exhibitions and a celebration of the winning images from photo competitions held in the lead up to it. The festival spills overs to other cities and states, often touring overseas and is attended by artists from around the world.

I was excited when my proposal to document the stories of first generation migrants in my Shire, was accepted. The aim of my project was to highlight their contributions to contemporary Australian life at a time when there was much hysteria about people coming here from overseas. I met some extraordinary men and women working in science, the arts, medical research, construction, sport, and engineering; and felt privileged to share their stories.

My local council sourced the participants, did the marketing and hosted the launch of my exhibition. I had a wonderful experience discovering the diversity in my community, and sharing their stories. The project was so well received that we had a repeat performance during the Festival of Arts held in Hornsby later in the year.

My partner Steven’s work is inspired by the desire to introduce a new paradigm for how we might live, under the umbrella of the Circular Economy. His emphasis is very much about system thinking, integrating food, water and energy into the infrastructure of housing, so that waste can be minimised. The project we did titled, ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’, was an opportunity to speak to one aspect of his research, highlighting the issues surrounding food waste and packaging.

The project was a collaboration with Parramatta City Council and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The goal was to share ideas and tools to reduce the 24kg of waste per week that was going to landfill from each household in Parramatta.

With Council support, I photographed the food purchased by four very different households and also documented the waste generated at the end of the week. Council staff weighed each household’s waste and documented that for comparison.

We then ran workshops to demonstrate ways in which household waste could be reduced. Participants were given strategies such as compost bins and ideas on how to store excess food and purchase food with minimum packaging. After a 3-month period in which the new practices could be implemented, I repeated the project and Council staff confirmed that a significant reduction in waste was realised.

The outputs we produced, which included images and a small film, were part of a laneway festival. The discussions surrounding this helped spread the message of waste reduction around the community.

The Tarkine is a remote place in the northwest corner of Tasmania that is under threat from logging, destruction of Aboriginal heritage, mining and illegal 4-wheel driving. Ancient rainforests, button grass plains, wild rivers and an incredible coastline make up the Tarkine. Each year, the Bob Brown Foundation take over 120 artists to spend the Easter long weekend there. Bob Brown is a former parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens and led the foundation of the party.

The artists ranging from writers, photographers, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, and printmakers create work that increases the profile of this endangered forest. While there are reserves that have some level of conservation, only a small portion of the park is recognised as a National Park. My partner and I were excited to be part of this contingent. It was hoped that by raising awareness of the beauty of the Tarkine and the threats it faced through images, blogs, publications and a resulting exhibition it could lead to this area obtaining World Heritage Status.

Spending time in this wilderness was inspiring and refreshing as was meeting so many creatives who were activists for this incredible landscape. I was so moved by this experience that I wrote poetry for the first time—waking up to find the words literally spilling out of my subconscious.

One of my more recent project was spending time once more as an artist in residence at the Skymirror Cafe & Gallery in a small regional town called Sea Lake, in the state of Victoria. While this was not directly about activism, setting aside time and space to discover your why, is an important part of the creative process.

In exchange for accomodation and the chance to deep dive into my aerial photography, I spent time helping out in the gallery, interacting with visitors to the space. Most importantly I created the space and time to reflect on the future of my practice while creating a new body of work.

The experience not only gave me the opportunity to create new work, it enabled me to gain firsthand experience of how my work was perceived by a diverse audience. I had long conversations with other photographers who came to visit which helped raise my profile in the industry while delivering increased value to Skymirror. My stay culminated with an exhibition of my work—titled Salt Lake Art—which is now available for sale at the gallery.

In 1985, the American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell recorded a thought-provoking  series with Bill Moyers for SBS on ‘The Power of Myth’. In the series, Campbell saw the greatest human transgression as “the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not quite awake”. Campbell also talked often about the importance of discovering and following your bliss.

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are, if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.” ~Joseph Campbell

Discovering your why—or as Joseph Campbell described it, your bliss—is an important part of not just your creative journey but your journey through life. I am not sure if all artists are called to be activists, but as you grow in your creativity, I think the issues you care about will reveal themselves in your work.

Now that I am at a stage of life where I have the luxury of time to indulge in my creativity, photography and creative writing have become the reasons I jump out of bed everyday. They are the mediums through which I express many of the issues I care about. It is the contribution I can make to society and the legacy I hope to leave behind. It has certainly taken quite some time for me to become a confident artist and to find my voice. It is a journey that will keep evolving and I hope the ideas I shared might inspire you to explore what contribution you can make with your photography and discover if your art will become part of your activism.