Into The Unknown

By Sharne Wolff

Kurt Sorensen is a photomedia artist with a passion for historical narratives. To research the series into the unknown he trawled the internet for stories he found intriguing. He then travelled to the locations where the events occurred to shoot his photographs. Sorenson is interested in the strange, the sad, the eerie and the mysterious rather than in details of violence, brutality and the like that keep the mainstream media occupied.

Sorensen uses a large-format film camera and is keen to be as true to the original scene as possible. He takes his photographs at the approximate time of day that an event took place and tries to use only light sources available at the relevant time in history. The areas around the towns of Hill End, Sofala and the Turon River nearby, feature in this show. Those of the Turon River are based on the story of a man known locally as ‘the Frenchman’ who disappeared from his hut on a Sunday evening in the early 1870s and was found dead the following morning having ‘died from exposure, being in a nude state and suffering from temporary insanity’ according to newspaper reports of the day.

A feeling of belonging and attachment of people to place is what Sorenson is interested in identifying with his photographs. Early European explorers in Australia often found it an uncomfortable and inhospitable place. Despite feelings of loneliness and anxiety they feared the landscape but were simultaneously awestruck by its immensity and beauty. Sorenson attempts to capture this wealth of emotion in his photographs.

Dickerson Gallery, Woollahra

Until 14 October 2012

www.dickersongallery.com.au