Region lives in photos

FROM the Mayor of Burnie toasting the former pulp mill building he wants to turn into a distillery to one of the wonders of Wynyard in his crowded workshop, the images in photographer Grant Wells’s exhibition capture some of northern Tasmania’s most passionate people.

The subjects in what could be called a photographic who’s who of the region live between Launceston and Strahan and are diverse. There is a cheesemaker, a milliner, a West Coast artist, a witch who lives in a purple house at Cooee and a brass band member.

Most, Mr Wells had met through his former job as a local newspaper photographer.

“I also knew they had great spaces to capture them in,” he said.

The portraits explore the relationship between a person’s passion and their environment. Each is made up of a minimum of 10 individual photographs which are then “stitched” together.

The People of Passion exhibition opens on Friday night at the Burnie Arts and Function Centre along with two other exhibitions.

Somerset artist Con Rhee’s exhibition Painted Cliffs and Other Visual Magic is a photographic journey printed on floor-to-ceiling silk panels highlighting Maria Island.

The Men With Heart exhibition celebrates the 21st birthday of TASMEN.