Lilla Berry
Lilla Berry writes about Jenn Brazier in Neoterica 2024.
In a society that values travel to experience new destinations and new landscapes, we neglect the natural wonder that surrounds us everyday. The urban concrete covered world steadily grows, whilst leaving remnants of the once naturally occurring landscape in pockets, ready to be found. At the top of a skyscraper; in manicured council controlled gardens; in nature strips on highways. Yet we take these pockets of nature for granted.
In so many ways we are constantly at odds with the things we project to be. Lovers of the natural, untouched. Whilst unable to see what is in front of us. That there is so much beauty readily available, but unappreciated. Photography as a medium is able to reveal to us what may otherwise be unseen. A tiny detail that is often missed. A place in the world that only few can see with their own eyes. It can peel back layers in the everyday to unveil something new.
Jenn Brazier’s work examines our connections to place, to land, to Country. Her photographic methods transform landscapes into ethereal images, bringing to light the unseen magic and beauty hidden in the landscape. Devising photos that are timeless through the use of long exposure and unconventional lighting techniques to create an otherworldly scene. This work, which incorporates installation, presents itself as a gateway you could step through to reveal a whole new world, reclaimed by the environment. The proof of our existence is absorbed into this unique and new state of nature. Part us, part the Earth. A magical place where nature shields the viewer from industrial structures that exist just moments away.
Jenn questions our relationship to the world we inherit, inhabit and impart onto future generations. It defines the relationship we have with this planet as one that is equal in power, if we allow ourselves to look at our position through a different lens. As a society coming to terms with our use of the world’s resources, through a process of appreciation for what we already have, we can find beauty in so much of what is available to us.
Considering this as a Yankunytjatjara woman, Jenn’s work speaks to how First Nations communities have always lived in harmony with our environment. Being one with Country. Belonging to Country. Not Country belonging to us. Our human existence is so small and brief in the timeline of what has come before, and what will come to be. We can leave footprints and echoes of our habitation; a glass bottle, a metal seal, a pile of brick and rubble. But in the end, our reconstruction of the earth will be rightfully reclaimed by nature.
Jenn’s work reminds us that we are inherently part of this world and must coexist with nature. But it is our responsibility to care for Country, so that Country can care for us.
Lilla Berry is a Yankunytjatjara woman, multi-disciplinary artist, arts worker, film maker and producer, and is currently Manager, Aboriginal Arts Programs at Carclew. In 2017, she formed the Aboriginal cultural contemporary dance company Of Desert and Sea, alongside her fellow dance ensemble members. Lilla produced ODAS’ debut show Beautiful for Tarnanthi 2019. Lilla produced the short documentary Sansbury Sisters (2019) as part of the Deadly Family Portraits Initiative with South Australian Film Corporation and ABC iView, and NITV, Screen Australia and SAFC commissioned short documentary, Black Empire (2022) as part of the Curious Australia Initiative. Her awards include the 2019 Gladys Elphick Young Sister Rising Award and 2021 SASA Emerging Producer Award. Lilla was The Mill’s CaMRes resident in 2021, which resulted in the exhibition STRNG WMN as part of Tarnanthi.