From The National Gallery of Australia:
Albert Namatjira's reputation rests on his landscapes. His paintings of other subjects are not so well known. Recent discoveries reveal that, particularly during the early years of his career, he produced portraits, scenes of daily life, animals and buildings, all of which are either integrated into, or juxtaposed against, the land.
From Wikipedia:
Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959), born Elea Namatjira, was an Australian artist. He was a Western Arrernte man, an Indigenous Australian of the Western MacDonnell Ranges area. Albert Namatjira is perhaps Australia's best known Aboriginal painter, with his work forming one of the foundations of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.
He is best known for his watercolour Australian outback desert landscapes, a style which inspired the Hermannsburg School of Aboriginal art. While his work is the product of his life and experiences, his paintings are not in the highly symbolic style of traditional Aboriginal art; they are richly detailed depictions.
He is also notable for being the first Northern Territory Indigenous Australian to be freed from the restrictions of legislation that made Aborigines wards of the State.
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My family and I went on a trip to the Territory in June/July 2011. Karlu Karlu (or Devil's Marbles) was one of our favourite places to visit. The rock formations are incredible to view, walk amongst and to preserve via photography. You just have to see how the light changes in this part of the world - amazing.
When this challenge eventuated, I thought about what I considered 'art' and rummaged through the archives searching for something suitably 'arty'. In the end, I have always and probably will always, consider landscapes as the ultimate 'art', as painted by God. I'm proud of this shot, as to me it captures some of the spirituality inherent in the land belonging to the traditional owners, as well as being in my opinion, quite 'painterly' and very much in the style of Albert Namatjira.
I fully expect it to score horribly in this 'Art' challenge, but for once, I don't really care - that's how much I like this shot. I have printed it and will be framing it for my wall.
I do hope you like it for what it is. Thanks.
22/3/2012 - after challenge voting ended:
I find my results here entirely predictable and extremely amusing! This shot is the 'traditional landscape' and as such has scored EXACTLY at the 50th percentile - EXCELLENT :) Love it. (not sarcasm)
Statistics
Place: 119 out of 241 Avg (all users): 5.6835 Avg (commenters): 6.8000 Avg (participants): 5.5155 Avg (non-participants): 6.0714 Views since voting: 592 Views during voting: 244 Votes: 139 Comments: 7 Favorites: 0
A lot of my own landscape and wild photography has a personal connection. I saw this for what it was and what I experienced of Australia. Your image touched me because I've been to places like Ayers rock, which I have climbed, and the surrounding ranges. We have an (Jack) Absalom bought in '82/'83 and much of his work is in the same style. In order to make the image feel a tad more isolated and barren, I'd leave a bit of space (sky) on the right hand side between the last boulder and the edge of the frame if it's in your original.
7.
Gorgeous colors. Reminds me of my days in Oklahoma. There were things similar to this. The cloud cover is perfect. The details are absolutely amazing in the shot. Everything says beauty! Well done.
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