In 2009 I accompanied the Australian National Maritime Museum on two archaeological expeditions to remote coral reefs off the coast of Queensland. The opportunity to be the underwater photographer and videographer on these expeditions was an absolute privilege and a highlight of my career. In 2010 an exhibition of my images from these expeditions was displayed at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. The museum has since expanded the exhibition to 33 images which will now go ‘on tour’… first stop, Geelong in Victoria.
The aim of these expeditions, sponsored by the Silentworld Foundation, were to locate the site of His Majesty’s Colonial Schooner Mermaid, wrecked in 1829 on the Great Barrier Reef, and to survey the sites of His Majesty’s Ship Porpoise and the merchant ship Cato, both lost more than 400 kilometres offshore from present day Gladstone (in the Coral Sea) on the Wreck Reefs in 1803.
The expeditions would also provide marine scientists the opportunity to investigate the physical condition of the various reefs encountered during the work and to seek possible evidence of the impact of climate change on these reefs.
Wrecks, Reefs and the Mermaid is a display of 33 photographs I have taken, illustrating the Museum’s work, on these coral reefs.
Exhibition itinerary
National Wool Museum VIC
9 November 2011 – 12 February 2012
26 Moorabool Street Geelong VIC 3220
http://www.nwm.vic.gov.au/
Eden Killer Whale Museum NSW
18 February – 20 May 2012
184 Imlay Street Eden NSW 2551
www.killerwhalemuseum.com.au/
Parkes Shire Library NSW
July – September 2012
Bogan Street Parkes NSW 2870
www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/library.html
Bribie Island Seaside Museum QLD
October – November 2012
1 South Esplanade Bongaree Bribie Island QLD
www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/subsite.aspx?id=72406
Manning Regional Art Gallery NSW
8 December 2012 – 8 March 2013
12 Macquarie Street Taree NSW 2430
www.fogsmanningvalley.com.au
Australian Conservation Foundation