Adam Ferguson’s Big Sky is a decade-long photographic study of Australia’s interior, unraveling myths of the ‘Outback’ and revealing a complex landscape shaped by history, climate, and culture.
Through stark portraiture and expansive landscapes, Ferguson dismantles the romanticized notions of this vast territory, instead presenting a nuanced reality shaped by globalisation, climate adversity, and the enduring connection of Aboriginal communities to their lands. His lens captures the shrinking small towns, fading traditions, and the precarious balance between modernity and history in a region often reduced to cliché.
Inspired by Richard Avedon’s In the American West, Ferguson initially sought to tell his story through portraiture but soon realized the necessity of context—the landscapes and environments his subjects inhabited became integral to their narratives. The result is a body of work that oscillates between documentary realism and constructed imagery, where moments of spontaneity coexist with carefully composed portraits. His interactions with subjects, whether through formal sittings or fleeting moments of trust, underscore the ethical complexities of documentary photography, particularly in a post-colonial landscape.
Ferguson is acutely aware of the inherent power dynamics in his work. He seeks to mitigate photography’s exploitative tendencies by fostering relationships with his subjects and consulting community elders before publishing images. Yet, he acknowledges the paradox of his position as an outsider documenting Indigenous lives. His ultimate aim is to depict dignity and agency, resisting the extractive gaze of historical representations. In Big Sky, silence is a form of respect, and listening is as crucial as seeing—a philosophy that permeates every frame of this ambitious, introspective project.
