July 13, 2004
Photographs matter.
Peter Dombrovskis was a photographer of the Tasmanian wilderness. It was his images, most especially Rock Island Bend, which helped to stop the damming of the Franklin River for hydroelectricity, and which preserved it for the enjoyment of all.
It's a pity that the lessons of a great picture have seemingly been forgotten, as Tasmania's old growth forest is firebombed, so few great images are available.
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Captivating images of unspolied wilderness! Thanks, polychrome, these are refreshing and uncluttered sights. The worldwide destruction of forested land is tragic and shortsighted.
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What pisses me off is forests being turned into woodchips. Was there ever such a pathetic waste of a tree? Completely and insultingly stupid.
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Oh, wow! I'm basically a tactile sort - when my mother took me to museums when I was little, she had to restrain me from touching the exhibits. But this photography is as close to tactile as photography can get. And, I'm adding Tasmania to my list of "have to got there." (I finally got a cable modem so I can look at this stuff without wanting to throw my computer and myself out the window. 'ray!)
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I should have read the "more inside" link before posting. That outdoes the US treatment of resources by several miles.
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Err, while there's plenty of politics associated with old-growth forests in Tasmania there are also still quite a few trees there as well.
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I don't mind trees being made into tables and chairs and guitars and beds and violins and houses and rocking horses and bookshelves. Pulp can be much more efficiently
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Wonderful images like those can often make people more aware of exactly what is being destroyed (and in the case of Tasmanian old growth forest, sold off at $15 a tonne). The Wilderness Society has been known to organize filming/photography in threatened forests for just that purpose. John Hardy - well hey, as long as there are "quite a few trees" left, I guess we can just keep on with the firebombing then? (And as long as there are quite a few bettongs left, poisoning them to protect the seedlings established in place of the cleared forests shouldn't be a problem either right?)
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For I will consider my tree Sylvester. For he gives richness to the air we breathe and daily serves the creatures of this world. For with the first light from the sun he translates water into oxygen. For he is a green glory upon the face of the earth. For he makes the paths under out feet be cool. For this he thrusts his roots divers times between the cold clays and living stone. For he blooms upon bare to blossom us in.
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Mmm, Sylvester tree. Why isn't it Christmas yet? /minor derail