| The Snowy Region Visitor Centre will this week host a stunning exhibition of landscape photos which came about as a direct result of a collaboration between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Discovery Ranger program at Tumut and a group of Australia’s top landscape photographers. NPWS Manager, Andrew Harrigan, said that it all began with a chance meeting.
“In October last year Murray van der Veer, one of the country’s top professional photographers, entered the Tumut visitors centre with his family to enquire about the NPWS Aboriginal Discovery Ranger Program in Kosciuszko National Park,” Mr Harrigan said. “Here he met Shane Herrington, the Aboriginal Interpretations Trainee at the time, who has since won numerous awards and become Tumut’s first permanent Aboriginal Discovery Ranger.
“Shane took Murray and his family on a tour into a section of Kosciuszko National Park and this meeting spawned an idea to bring 16 known landscape photographers together for a weekend based at Currango Homestead to develop a body of work that could be used to raise further funds to support the Aboriginal Discovery Rangers Program.
“Under this program the NPWS trains and mentors local Aboriginal people to become tour guides. “It has been very helpful for a number of local Aboriginal people and Shane is probably the greatest example of that success. To date 23 Tumut and Brungle Wiradjuri/Wolgalu people have completed both on and off the job training with many going on to secure ongoing employment in the tourism industry.
“Murray’s weekend workshop has since grown and now he offers weekend landscape photography workshops in the park for members of the public working in cooperation with the NPWS. “The ’Discovering country’ exhibition has just been on show in The Rocks in Sydney and has been so successful it is now going on the road with the next stop being the Snowy Region Visitor Centre in Jindabyne.
“’Discovering country’ pays tribute to the wisdom of traditional interpretations of land, and the skill and storytelling craft of 16 of Australia’s best landscape photographers. It was a life changing weekend for the photographers who focused on incorporating local indigenous people’s understanding of the land in their own photographic storytelling.
“We will hang 40 stunning images and in addition to a range of Aboriginal artefacts such as nulla nullas and Coolaman as well as a traditional bark canoe which will all be on sale during the exhibition.
“Proceeds from the exhibition will contribute towards providing further training and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people to learn tour guiding and tourism related skills,” Mr Harrigan said.
The exhibition features stunning images by artists including Jenny Blau, Mark Lang, and Kent Miklenda. The exhibition will be officially opened at the Snowy Region Visitor Centre at 3.30pm this coming Friday, June 4. Those people interested in attending the launch should RSVP Penny McLennen on 6450 5596.
NPWS News Release, 31st May, 2010 | 
