| Summary: | For most, Antarctica is a far off, distant place. Almostfantastic in its remote, unique and extreme characteristics,imaginative leaps are required to understand and perceiveits otherworldliness. Researchers from the Institute for Marineand Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmaniahave particularly strong ties to the icy continent and itssurrounding oceans. IMAS conducts world-leading researchacross a broad range of disciplines from the Applied andSocial Sciences to Law & Governance, the Arts & Humanities. This exhibition documents personal encounters by some ofthe lucky few: researchers who have had the opportunity tonot only imagine and dream of Antarctica, but also enterinto its frigid grip. The images reveal personal experiencesand interactions with an environment few others will everencounter first-hand. This first-hand encounter is what setsthese images apart as they speak of much more than justpretty pictures or awe inspiring landscapes. The viewsare beautiful and breathtaking none the less, but thesephotographs more importantly hint at a reciprocal exchange:where environment is impressed upon the individual as muchas the impacts and evidence of human presence is impressedupon the continenta delicate push and pull. Despite Antarcticas geographical and psychological distance,the continent is indeed connected to the rest of the globe. Itsinfluence over our weather systems is just one example of thenature of the relationship which is fragile and tenuous. Theseimages go some way to revealing the complexity of humanconnection with the Antarctic landscape. A connection thatis often measured, sampled, tested and recorded. But, onethat is also seen and sensed. Through these researchers eyeswe are able to glimpse much more than the grandeur. Wecan see further, into the interior of the continent as a physicalenvironment and psychological space that reaches back outto us and leaves its mark, just as we are indelibly leaving thetrace of our presence there.
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