EXHIBITION: HYDE PARK HARMONY
BY SOPHIE TARR
Anthony Browell wants us to celebrate Hyde Park. For the past two years, he has used pin-hole photography to capture businessmen, picnickers and lovers against the trunks of the Moreton Bay figs that line the park’s main walkway. The three-day exhibition Hyde Park Harmony: Portraits in the Park is the culmination of Browell’s love affair with the site, and will feature 30 large-scale portraits, with others projected onto screens.
It’s been a study in place, humanity and the rich history of our city, but also, Browell says, in mortality. “Because they’re diseased, these figs are going to have to come down. My agenda is not to complain, it’s to show how everything is mortal, and to celebrate how people feel in the trees,” he says.
“It’s really a show for the people, the whole agenda is to get people to come and enjoy the park and the figs. And especially because in the bark of these trees, people have carved names and hearts, and these are like love stories; the park is full of love stories. And these love stories will all be lost when the trees are cut down.” Hyde Park Harmony: Portraits in the Park runs from November 20-22 in Hyde Park.
