Once were waters
‘Projects often develop organically and unexpectedly,’ says photographer Paul Harmon. ‘Sometimes they start with an idea, sometimes with an accident that excites or a casual comment that gets you thinking.’
Describing the origins of WaterMarks, his series of aerial images of climate change-driven drought in northwestern New South Wales, Paul says it all began when he acquired a professional drone with the idea that he could photograph abstracted landscapes.
As a documentary filmmaker in the late 1980s, he made a series of award-winning films on the environment and sustainability. ‘For a long time I have been aware of the effects and causes of climate change,’ he says. From the beginning of this project I of course knew that NSW was in the worst drought in 100 years and was also aware of the struggling health of the Murray-Darling River system.’
Australian regulations required Paul not to fly his drone above 120 metres. As he discovered, that wasn’t enough altitude for him to achieve the level of abstraction he wanted, so instead of
