Once Was Paradise, a photo from Victoria, East

Photographer's Note

The Sherbrook Forest is only five minutes walk from my home and I often go there in the hope of photographing a male lyrebird. More often than not I am the only person there and it is at such times that I feel like an intruder amongst the ghosts of the Aborigines, the original inhabitants of this land and of this forest.

As I walk past little brooks and many fern gullies and see crimson rosellas (parrots), hear the loud screeches of the cockatoos high in the gumtrees, I imagine what life must have been like in this playground for the black custodians before they were dispossessed of their ancestral land and sick and dying, their few surviving members were "saved"by some missionaries and taught to be like us, that is to be our subordinates while we grew fat on their patrimony.

By the way, until the sixties the Aborigines were classified as fauna and had no right to vote in their own country!

maltese, pajaran, ikeharel, swapankumarroy, ourania, PaulVDV, adores has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

maltese (22909) 2014-08-29 6:34

Hello Klaudio
Des couleurs superbes pour donner un bel attrait а cette photo.
Ces arbres sont impressionnants!!
Beau travail
Amicalement
Hervй

dkmurphys (79209) 2014-08-29 6:43

Hi Klaudio,
Very exotic scene from that lost world as you wrote about. It is unbelievable that fact about the 60's...
Anyway, fine shot.

Daniel

willperrett (14215) 2014-08-29 6:45

Hello Klaudio

Well it still looks paradisical, but your note is an apt antidote to the physical beauty of the photograph. But the tree ferns are amazing, and the ironbarks(?) solid: the whole thrust of the photograph is vertical. Is your title a reference to the film "Once were Warriors"?

Regards

Will

pajaran (116947) 2014-08-29 6:49

Dobro vece.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep pogled na stabla u sumi ...
Dobar snimak i kontrast, lepo pokazano drvece u sumi, lepe boje.
Duhovi Aborigines setaju sumom i opomonju dosljake ...
Prijatno vece i mirna noc, sve najbolje za vikend, srecno.
Paja.

Gerrit (62042) 2014-08-29 7:03

Hi Klaudio,
what a fantastic vergetation. I have seen such huge ferntrees in Guatemala. I gives you an image how it must have been in a time long before even the Aborigines inhabited these woods.
regards, Gerrit

ikeharel (114477) 2014-08-29 7:06

excelent light management through the forest trees, Klaudio.
Marvelous tones of diff. green's and brown's.
I can only imagine how intriguing the hike within such a magnificent and "dignified" nature surrounding.
Have a nice weekend,
Ike

berek (50518) 2014-08-29 8:05

Hi Klaudia,
you are right. like a paradise. i love this beuatiful nature picture. well framed.
greetings.
Burak

swapankumarroy (3769) 2014-08-29 9:26

Hello Klaudio,

Very nicely shoot in a vertical frame, lush green with long trees, good composition and contrast, color is quiet natural.

warm regards and have a nice weekend,

swapankumarroy

ourania (51103) 2014-08-29 10:04

Hello Klaudio,
your note is beautiful, sad and shocking. Your photo is wonderful and I like very much how you kept it as mysterious and alluring as possible. It's easy for us to share your fascination even through this little glimpse of the forest. The colours, the filtred light and the atmosphere are magical. I've read that the Aborigins had special songs for each natural element, believed that everything was created through a song. They really knew how to appreciate nature and their existence. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a lovely weekend,
Ourania

jean113 (28249) 2014-08-29 14:07

Hello Klaudio,I like the tight crop that helps with your impression of the densely packed forest of trees.
Some fascinating examples to be seen.
The touches of blue sky through the vegetation complete the picture for me.
Regards Jean.

cagla (4342) 2014-08-29 15:08

Hi Klaudio, this place still looks like a paradise, and I think you're really lucky living so close to such a paradise. I wonder how do the wet soil and the dew on the leaves smell during the night.

PaulVDV (63440) 2014-08-29 20:40

Hello Klaudio,
That forest looks so wonderful! Very exotic.
As a relic from a forgotten time.
The presentation is marvellous with an excellent light management and a good depth of field.
Your note is sad. I remember that at another picture you expressed your gratitude because people got a new chance in a new land. Unfortunately, migration seems to me always at the expense of the original population.
Best regards, Paul

siudzi (34141) 2014-08-29 23:44

Hi Klaudio,
This looks so exotic for me! Excellent nature study taken with fantastic light and sharpness management. The achieved visual effect is superb. Tfs.
Have a nice weekend!
Gosia

wolf38 (30) 2014-08-29 23:55

Hello Klaudio. What a true title. I enjoy the beauty of this forest. Very adequate for this image is the text that is actually dedicated to the Aborigines. For me, an ideal post for TE.
Have a nice weekend,
Wolfgang.

emka (158680) 2014-08-30 0:09

Hello Klaudio, You have such a forest five minutes from your home? Lucky guy! The photo is like taken from a fairy tale. Male lyrebird, caccatoos, I would be delighted to see them. Sad note. I read that the Aboriginal were classified as fauna, it is incredible.
WArm regrad s MAlgo

kasianowak (17676) 2014-08-30 1:10

Zdravo Klaudio
These tree ferns remind me of my travels in NZ.
I dispair every time I hear about the fate of the Austrian Aborigines. Not only, classified as part of the animal kingdom, they were deprived of the right to vote but also, for years, it was ok to kill them without the normal consequences of killing a human being. Now people turn their heads and close their hearts when they see destitute Aborigines in the streets of Australian towns - out of their natural environment, destroyed and colonized by the European invaders, they are like fish out of water. In the western world many people feel they are better, more cultured and civilized than others - others being of different ethnicity or religion. But if we are so good, why did we colonize and distroy so much of the world, breaking human rights (we claim we are so proud of these days) constantly along they way?
Ok, that's my rant for today...
Good luck with your lyrebird photography! :-)
Ugodan vikend
Kasia

ktanska (45030) 2014-08-30 1:23

Hi Klaudio,
Huge ferns of Australia and New Zealand always amaze me as nothing like that can be found in Europe. Impressive view of timeless forest. Variable light is exceptionally well presented without over or underexposed spots.
Kari

serp2000 (47063) 2014-08-30 9:21

Zdravo, Klaudio,
I just envy you, if you have got so wonderful forest near your home. Good presentation of the nature, it reminds me some pre-historic forest with relict flora.
Best wishes,
Serghei

adores (46979) 2014-09-04 13:47

Hi Klaudio!
Great and really sad note indeed. Looks a wonderful place and it makes us wonder how it was in the old days, before the white man appears. Beautiful composition and format, the ferns are huge!