The stories of regional Victoria told through the lens

The regional stories of 2020 will be on display this September at the state library photography exhibition, ‘State of Change: regional & rural stories of 2020’.

Below, farmer Adam Wheeler is pictured standing alone on green grass, feeding his horses. Behind him, the Victorian bushland is scored from the fires of 2020.

The photograph by James Wiltshire captures a significant moment in regional Victoria: a land blackened by fire, followed by months of drought and, as the rains came, devastated by months of COVID-19 isolation and lockdowns.

2020 was a year that hit regional Victoria on many fronts and a year that saw rural Victoria forced into a state of change.

Now, two years later, the State Library Victoria photography exhibition State of Change: regional & rural stories of 2020, is telling these stories through a local lens.

Wiltshire said the photograph of Wheeler caught the sad tale of rural village Cudgewa, a community looking to come together after the devastation of the fires only to be propelled into a lockdown.

“His place was burnt and they saved the house, but a lot of the crops were destroyed, so it’s a double whammy,” Wiltshire told APP.

Another photographer featured in the exhibition, Fabiana Guerreiro, focused on capturing those working in essential industries during 2020, with one of his featured images capturing a nurse, Alison Sedgwick, tenderly offering a drink to a resident at Lorne Community Hospital aged care facility.

“It shows the love and care of the staff towards the residents who probably hadn’t seen their families for a long time,” Guerreiro said of the moment.

“It was such an isolating time and it was beautiful to watch that moment and see that dedication.”

The exhibition is a part of the ongoing State Library Victoria photography commission called Focus on country Victoria, a project focused on reminding rural Victoria that arts, culture and stories belong to them as much as to the urban areas.

Curator Jade Hadfield said the photographs show the resilience and solidarity of regional communities.

“It’s about connection, access and seeing themselves,” Ms Hadfield said.

“Places like the State Library are in the capitals, but these places really are for everybody.”

The State of Change: regional and rural stories of 2020 exhibition is currently on show at Colac Library until August 27, and will be on show at Geelong Library and Heritage Centre on September 1 to October 13.