The beginnings of the Mallee Routes project emerges from  this post on Gary’s  thoughtfactory website. It shows firstly, that Gary’s  contribution to the project is an outgrowth, or a spin off, from his  silo project on the Mallee Highway; and secondly, that Gary  has connected with two other photographers–Gilbert Roe and Eric Algra–who have been photographing the Mallee independently,  to form a collaborative  project.

The title  of the project–Mallee Routes– was suggested by Eric Algra.  In coming together to work on a collaborative project the three photographers  will be working from  diverse perspectives,  and with different interests and various approaches to their photography.  We reckon that the time frame of the Mallee Routes project is about three years, and that it will primarily concentrate on the South Australian and Victorian Mallee. The NSW Mallee near Lake Mungo is probably outside the project’s boundaries. The  project’s website was constructed  by Chris Dearden,  whilst  the website’s blog is about the process of the project.  The blog  may, or may not, become a co-operative one.

One notable aspect of the Mallee in the Murray-Darling Basin is that, apart from the various national parks,  it primarily consists  of agricultural landscapes, small towns,  and    minimal, scrappy native vegetation along the side of the roads.

I find photographing the Mallee scrub difficult synthroid 25 mcg. This scoping attempt, with a digital camera,  was made whilst I was travelling on the Kulkami Rd between Lameroo and Karoonda after a silo photoshoot at Lameroo. The location of this scrub was around Kulkami near the Marama turnoff, which is approximately half way between  the Lameroo and Karoonda townships in South Australia. 

The Mallee Project is envisioned as a series of exhibitions over the three years in different cities in southern Australia, with the possibility of a book at the end of the project, if all goes well.    At this stage we have enough work for an initial  low key exhibition at   Atkins Photo Lab‘s new gallery space in early October, 2016. What happens next depends on what work is produced after the initial exhibition. W have booked space on the South Coast Regional Art Centre at Goolwa, on  the southern Fleurieu Peninsula,  in two years time.

A quick google indicates that there has not been a sustained photographing of The Mallee from an art photography perspective.   Most of the Mallee photography on the web appears to be stock photography, fauna and flora photos that are ecological in orientation, and  historical documents.  There is little photography  that  reflects on what the Mallee once stood for in the context of  exploring its history and culture and/or connects with the digital humanities or to photographic research groups based in the universities.