Pamela Pauline

Pamela Pauline is a Sydney-based photographic artist whose work explores the beauty and fragility of Australia’s unique biodiversity through meticulously constructed still-life imagery. Drawing inspiration from seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish still-life painting, Pauline creates contemporary photographic tableaux in which Australian native flora and fauna replace the European specimens historically depicted in these works.

Central to her practice is the idea of photography as witness. Pauline’s work seeks to bear witness to living species at a moment of profound ecological change, recording their presence, beauty, and increasing vulnerability. Rather than depicting cut flowers traditionally associated with still-life painting, she photographs living plants and birds, emphasising vitality while acknowledging the historical symbolism of vanitas and the fragility of the natural world.

Pauline’s process combines field photography, studio still-life construction, and sophisticated digital compositing. Individual elements, including native flowers, birds, and insects, are photographed separately over extended periods of time in many different locations and then meticulously layered to form complex compositions. Through careful attention to light, spatial relationships, and tonal harmony, the final images evoke the dramatic atmosphere of historical still-life painting while remaining grounded in contemporary photographic practice.

Pauline’s work has been exhibited widely in Australia and internationally and recognised in numerous photographic and art prizes. Through her ongoing series Where the Wild Things Grow, Pauline continues to explore photography as both artistic expression and ecological witness, celebrating and advocating for Australia’s extraordinary native flora and fauna.