By Natasha Fujimoto
DRAWN to capturing documentary style, natural moments that seize the essence of beauty in people’s lives and the stories held within, local photographer Nicole Peters is pleased to present her latest exhibition, The Beauty Within a Disaster opening at Milestone Café in Kialla, on June 17.
Picking up the camera seven years ago, Nicole has focussed her professional career to date on family-oriented photography but has always been captivated by landscapes as a subject.
Stepping completely out of her comfort zone, the subject of The Beauty Within a Disaster is the October 2022 floods which heartbreakingly impacted many in the region, including Nicole’s own family.
“When the floods happened, I wanted to document it in an editorial way, but we were completely flooded in our court with nowhere to go. So, I decided on a different approach and photographed it in a way that showed the beauty,” Nicole said.
Believing that it is the province of photographers to see beauty in the world where others may only see the literal or the banal, Nicole said, “I believe we see the world differently, we can look at the spot on the side of the road and see the way the light filters through the trees, highlighting the grass and can picture exactly how that would look in a photograph.”
Finding beauty in the camaraderie of her community drawn together in support during the flood, Nicole said it was the interplay of still water and light that captivated her.
“It was the warmth of the sun on my skin the stillness of the water and the way the trees and houses reflected in it, it was the way the sun rose and sun set creating a picturesque mirror reflection, lighting up the water with every colour of the rainbow.”
