Gumsucker laments the loss of untamed Australian wilderness to civilization, ever encroaching, domesticating the land and spirit. It is a ghost story of sorts, populated by withering vestiges and isolated souls. Its title, drawn from the archaic term once used to describe native-born European Australians, also recalls ‘The Gumsucker’s Dirge,’ a 19th-century poem mourning the erasure of wilderness as the frontier was pushed further out and the dream of an untouched wilderness became increasingly inaccessible. 

Rory King’s images depict a landscape of abandonment, yet speak of a yearning for deep connection in the face of isolation. These are lonely photographs, but with warmth and connection at their edges. There is resistance here, some fight and resilience to the disillusionment of modernity. Through his patient gaze, King's lens captures strangers, companions and brute nature alike in a tender embrace.

Rory King is a Canberra-based who was awarded the Charcoal Publishing Prize at the 2023 Chico Review. He was the recipient of The Pool Grant #12 in 2023 from The Pool Collective. He was a finalist in the 2022 Australian Photography Awards, Portrait category, and received the National Gallery of Australia Summer Art Scholarship for photography in 2011, was named one of the up-and-coming artists of 2018 by Vogue, Australia. He published his debut monograph, ‘Plumwood’ (2022) with Tall Poppy Press.

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