Daniel Müller Captures The Impossible Scale Of The Australian Landscape In A Series That Looks Beyond The Sublime

Having photographed Namibia, Iceland, Georgia, and Switzerland, Müller is no stranger to capturing the sublime; but in this series from Australia, his approach seems to have shifted. Rather than photograph the landscape at its most monumental, he isolates elements within it: the ocean’s tideline, details of palm fronds, power lines, and apartment rooftops. By capturing the country in Müller is no stranger to capturing the sublime; but in this series from Australia, his approach seems to have shifted.this fragmented way, the intimacy of each frame is tempered by a sense of distance; in Müller’s photographs you sense the impossible scale of the landscape and the enormity of its history.

Being from Germany, a country that understands the necessity of acknowledging great wrongs, Müller was surprised by the way Australia appeared to ignore its own violent past. In conversation, he notes the scale of the colonial legacy in Australia, and the shadow it continues to cast: “It seems like indigenous people are still underrepresented and not well integrated into [white] Australian society, which is a real shame,” he says. “You’ll find a war memorial in every city celebrating the heroism of Australian soldiers in battles all over the world, and yet there isn’t a place that celebrates the indigenous people, or acknowledges what early settlers did to them.”