'East Australian Currents' series, Coolangatta QLD 2006.
"[Environmentalism is perceived as rebellious] because it's pointing out and understanding that there's something wrong with the way things are now, and knowing that there needs to be a change. That's what rebellion is, anyway. Environmentalism- the mainstream kind anyway, not the 'let's go live in a commune' kind, just tries to change certain practices, make them better, make them more efficient. But telling people that there needs to BE a change, not only in the way things are run but also in how people should prioritize the environment, well, to older folk, that's intrusive, telling other people how to live, even if you're just asking them to buy recyclables or prevent logging on some forest.
It's perceived as rebellious to be the way we are because it rebels against the current way people live. And I definitely think older folk associate environmentalism with the hippy movement still too, and that has an effect on the [connotation] of environmentalism now. There hasn't been such a stereotyped decade of environmentalism, or rebellion, since then, so maybe in a few more years when the people who looked down on the sixties aren't around anymore, maybe that will change or end the link people had between the two. But I don't think so- I think part of that has kind of embedded itself into the way thing are. It's not necessarily a bad thing, because people who write us off would find a reason to anyway. And I think in youth culture, people are attracted to that sense of rebellion, even though it isn't really rebellion, and if that in some way gets them to stop complaining and learn a thing or two about politics and change, then it's a good thing in my book.
Rebellion is a way to write people off because they're already prepared not to listen and they've already stereotyped who you are. Fine, their loss. People who aren't willing to see change are never going to be able to envision a better world, because they are only able to understand what they already know. That's too bad- I can see a way to live better, even if just by a little, to do my part, and if knowing that I'm living towards something makes me rebellious, then I'm damn proud of it." (Interview in Kempsey)
Lens: 35 mm | Aperture: f 5 | Shutter: 1/1000 sec | ISO: 100
Categories: Category: [East Australian Currents]
