“The Antarctic Arts Fellowship has been one of the most transformative experiences I could possibly imagine. Experiencing Antarctica has totally recalibrated my understanding of wilderness, and left me in awe at the inspirational ability of life to adapt to such extreme environments.”
Meet Dr Martin Walch
Australian photographer Dr Martin Walch was awarded the 2017 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship.
Walch specialises in still and time-lapse photography. He has a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours in Photography, a Master of Fine Arts by Research in Digital Stereoscopic Photography and Landscape, and a PhD in Fine Art, and is a lecturer at the University of Tasmania.
Arts Fellowship project
Dr Martin Walch travelled to Australia’s Mawson research station in October 2017. He spent 3 months capturing his unique surroundings with video and still photography, and two semi-permanent time-lapse camera installations.
Walch’s project created compelling visual representations of environmental change in the Antarctic. Using time-lapse and still photography, and data visualisation, Walch investigated the human and naturally driven processes that characterise this sensitive region.
The project reveals previously hidden aspects of the Antarctic landscape, its weather and ecosystems. The resultant photographic and screen-based artworks explore the distortions of space and time experienced by those living and working at Mawson Station during an Antarctic summer.
Find Dr Martin Walch’s work
Dr Martin Walch’s Antarctic Fellowship work has been exhibited in Tasmania and nationally. An archive of his digital imagery, journals and ephemera has been collected by the world renowned Centre for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art.
Previous works include Walch’s 5-year Australian Research Council collaboration with Dr David Stephenson entitled The Derwent Project, which was exhibited at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in 2017. During this project Walch developed some of the techniques and strategies that he has refined and extended during his Fellowship.
