Lia Steele (Australia):

Eden

"Eden consists of a series of portraits taken throughout Australia. The series originates from an obsessive curiosity into the transitory stage of youth and a human relationship with nature. By referencing the biblical Garden of Eden, and by placing young people in Edenic backgrounds, I am depicting youth as a time of purity and innocence, an unspoiled paradise. The images are taken with a protective tenderness and present themselves as an almost personal insight into the subject, however the composition of the photographs and the subjects’ lack of expression, leave the viewer to observe curiously from the outside looking in, and to lament upon the sanctity of human life."

Lia Steele is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Her photographic practice explores themes of youth, aging, beauty, death and the ideal, the documentation of life and the search for paradise on earth. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Photography, from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where she majored in documentary, and an honours degree in Fine Art from the Victorian College of the Arts. Her work has been widely exhibited across Australia and her book, Eden is in international collections.

Images © Lia Steele.