The Defenders is a mid-project exhibitions by photographers Victoria Baker and Davina Jogi which juxtaposes formal portraits of local members of the Volunteer Bushfire Brigades with elements of the natural environment. Imagined as a response to the cataclysmic 2019 Australian bushfire season, the intention of the work is to highlight the unseen, ordinary people whose livelihoods, family life, and history are intertwined with the Australian bush and simultaneously to raise questions about our own responsibility towards the environment. The project is supported through a Resilience Grant from Regional Arts WA which funded a 3-month mentorship with award-winning, Australian, photographic artist Aletheia Casey to assist in developing the work.
