By Dominique Tassell
Part of the Southern Downs Regional Council’s Hope and Growth 2019 Bushfire Photography Exhibition is now being shown at Wild Grounds Cafe on Warwick-Killarney Road, with the official opening held on 3 December.
SDRC’s call for photographic submissions to the collection was met with resounding local community support, with more than 100 extraordinary bushfire recovery photos submitted.
SDRC states that the collection “illustrates the community’s stories of hope and growth following the 2019 bushfires through images captured by local residents”.
The collection has been travelling around the region to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the bushfires.
SDRC partnered with the Queensland and Australian Governments on the project.
A Council spokesperson said the response to the call for photos had been met with enthusiasm and the submissions reflected the healing and mateship that was evident during and after the 2019 bushfires.
“It is important to appropriately mark the anniversary of the 2019 bushfires – an event that united the region in fighting the fires and then following the immediate danger, how the community came together again to move forward with recovery,” the spokesperson said.
“The commemorative photo exhibition captures the ‘then and now’ of the event, reflecting the immediate impact of the fires and the subsequent recovery journey.
“It has been inspiring to see how open and willing our community has been to share its stories and images and we hope the response to attend this exhibition is just as welcoming.”
