Hello everyone,

It’s with a lot of pride, a good amount of hope and a bit of excitement/nerves that I am announcing that my second photo book is ready for purchase.

After five years of work Ten Eighty is on the ship from China and will be here in less than a month.

Over the five years that I’ve worked on the project I’ve traveled along the Dingo Proof Fence - the world’s longest fence and a barrier so vast it stretches further than Perth to Sydney, LA to NYC, Paris to Moscow. I’ve spent time with Dingoes, getting to know the animals and trying to find them in the wild. I’ve become peers with researchers, and had many a shocking moment observing farmers. I’ve become frustrated at how, globally, we just choose, time and time again, to make more room for ourselves and less room for anything else.

I remain steadfast that visually, animals should not be disney-fied and made cute, but represented as they are and we should expect of our fellow human a level of respect for the other life on the planet. I am sick of seeing advocacy for animals that is rooted in making the animals look cute, mammalian or charming. Life is no less important because it doesn’t look pretty.

This project has been an incredibly difficult one for me - it’s been challenging for so many reasons. The travel was immense, I had so many problems with weather, and for a long time I wasn’t sure that I could stick the landing.

The project was unfundable and exhibitions were pulled. The agricultural lobby and political heat of advocating for Dingoes (who do eat sheep and make farming harder) is often not worth it for funding bodies and galleries. Several people have been attacked and killed by Dingoes, which makes championing them even harder. Just this summer it seems a Canadian tourist died due to a combination of being attached by Dingoes and drowning. It’s a tragedy, and your heart really goes out to that young person and her family.

So trying to ask for government funding to stick up for an animal that has, to some extent, killed someone. Well, it’s a hard ask and the answer was ‘no’.

Yet I am so proud of the final product which links mistreatment of Dingoes (Australia’s wolf), with industry, agriculture, colonialism and ecological harm. Throughout the book there is one question I hope come across clearly: is THIS the best we can do?

If you’re able to it would mean the world if you pre-ordered the book. There are options for a signed copy and a copy with a print.

Additionally,

If you live in Melbourne/Victoria I will be exhibiting the work and launching the book at 3553 Gallery on the 1st of May. Over the two weeks the exhibition is live there will be artists talks, Dingo advocates and even a meet-a-dingo afternoon. Please stay tuned and I’d love to see you there. I’ll be gallery sitting a lot so I’m so keen to say g’day to everyone who comes through.

If you’re in Wellington, NZ, I will be exhibiting the work in August as part of Photobook NZ at Massey University. I’m stoked about that.

I am doing a big social media announcement next week, on April 1. But a part of me just wanted to share with this smaller audience.

Especially now that I am spending more time at home, and my world is a bit smaller with the baby, it’s nicer than ever to have a little outlet to write about art, making a life in it and all that good stuff.

Thanks for being here.

Matt