Visual Arts / A South Coast Selection, by  Heide Smith, Basil Sellers Exhibition Centre, Moruya, until July 26. Reviewed by BRIAN ROPE.

Heide Smith (then Soltsien) trained, then worked, as a photographer in her native Germany.

After meeting and marrying Brian Smith, a British Army officer stationed in Germany, she continued working as a photographer – initially in Britain and Europe then, following migration, in Australia. She worked in Canberra from 1978 to 1998, then on the NSW south coast. This photo artist’s own website quotes her as saying she believes that “once a photographer, always a camera woman”.

I’m not sure when I first met this renowned photographer, but I still have my jotted notes of her helpful comments on the entries (including mine) at a Canberra Photographic Society competition in July 1986. From 1984 to 1996, Smith was the official photographer for the National Press Club in Canberra. Working from an office in the club’s building during four of those years, I attended various events and observed her photographing various high-profile speakers, including politicians, ambassadors, artists and actors.

Smith is best known for her meaningful portraits and documentary-style photography, capturing the authentic essence of people and places. Her most iconic works include a culturally significant series documenting the Tiwi people of northern Australia, and extraordinary images of Cambodia as a country in transition. And an extensive visual chronicle of Canberra, including her 1991 portraits of Canberra Raiders as a fundraising venture for the then financially struggling Rugby League club.

Throughout her career, this artist has published 11 books, held numerous exhibitions, and received prestigious accolades, including an Honorary Fellowship and a Fellowship from the Australian Institute of Professional Photography.

Her new exhibition, A South Coast Selection, highlights Smith’s deep relationship with the south coast. Her images allow visitors to absorb the area’s unspoiled beauty, uniqueness and sense of community. Every one of them displays her characteristically warm and clear style, whether it be a personal portrait or an expressive landscape.

It is more than a showcase of images – it’s a celebration of place, people, and the timeless ability of photography to tell stories of importance. Stories of the coastline itself, but also of the ranges and forests that provide its backdrop. Places such as the much-loved Gulaga, sacred mountain for the Yuin people, being severely damaged by bushfire. Tranquil afternoon reflections amongst forest and mangroves at Hobbs Point. Fabulous pelicans on Coila Beach. A stunningly red sunset on Lake Wapengo. And glorious mist amongst the forest at Belimbla.

Then there are stories of some most interesting people such as the late architect and photographer Bruce Loder, and Guboo Ted Thomas, land rights activist and a tribal Elder of the Yuin nation who grew up on the Wallaga Lake Reserve near Narooma.