Iso Images recorded in BIFB book

A NEW coffee table book from the Ballarat International Foto Biennale features curated photographs from their #MassIsolationAUS archive.

Motel Isolation, an image snapped last year by local photographer Craig Mitchell, features in the 208-page Mass Isolation Australia, which has been produced as a physical, visual record of Australia’s COVID-affected 2020.

“It was taken in the first week of April, which was a strange time to be in Ballarat. Things had just shut down and we didn’t know what was in store,” he said.

“I was walking the dog and it was an eerie scene. Nothing was happening, but there was this beautiful morning light.

“When I look back on it, the empty motel carpark sums up what it was like for business and the travel industry.”

Tagging his photo with #MassIsolationAUS on Instagram, as many professional and amateur photographers did last year, Mitchell is excited to have his photo immortalised.

“There’s some amazing photography and concepts. It’s the sort of book that will stand the test of time as a record of what happened in 2020.

“It’s also something permanent that the Foto Biennale can be really proud about. They’ve created something that lasts beyond the Biennale itself,” he said.

BIFB artistic director, Fiona Sweet said the hashtag received a huge amount of “sincere and positive” visual reflections.

“For many people, it’s been a major part of their lives during COVID, and a way for them to share their story, from a professional camera or a smart phone,” she said.