The large mound of crushed gypsum at Ballast Head (1)

Ed Douglas' photographs seek to poetically transform natural forms and stimulate a "more profound look at the familiar". After graduating with a Masters of Fine Arts from San Francisco State University in 1969, Douglas taught photography. He moved to Australia in 1973 and from 1977 was Senior Lecturer in Photography at the South Australian School of Art. These images form part of the CSR Photography Project. Douglas was asked to document the Gypsum Mine on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. In these colour photographs images of people participating in mining activities are interspersed with abstract images of a serene, uninhabited environment dominated by shape, tone and texture. Douglas dignifies the locale; by highlighting its inherent beauty he exalts the industrial landscape into poetic configurations.