Unseen | Matthew Bagley | Berninneit Art Gallery

Bass Coast Shire Council Presents: Unseen

Exhibition Series by Matthew Bagley 

Berninneit Art Gallery

Sat 26 October - Sun 8 December 2024

Open Daily: 9.30am - 4.00pm 

Free Entry

Unseen is a captivating exploration of human consumption on our oceans. Showcasing the forgotten and discarded ocean debris being reclaimed by Mother Nature in a fully immersive experience that combines photography with an augmented reality journey. 

About the Exhibition

Matthew Bagley's latest series, Unseen, takes viewers on a mesmerising exploration of forgotten and discarded ocean debris being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Using ultraviolet photography, Bagley has captured the beauty and devastation of discarded manmade objects found during his nighttime free diving adventures on the San Remo coastline.

The Unseen Exhibition series invites visitors to interact with the photographs using their smartphones, unlocking a captivating augmented reality experience. This immersive journey provides in-depth information about the life cycle and detrimental effects of common pollutants on marine ecosystems, sparking meaningful conversations and raising awareness about ocean conservation.

Artist Bio

Matthew Bagley is an internationally renound local ocean photographer, who grew up in San Remo and studied at Newhaven College. Bagley's value and appreciation for the ocean and the life source it offers us developed at a young age. Bagley spends part of his life as a creative in the corporate world and part of his life searching for precious interactions with nature and those fleeting moments of beauty that he can capture with his lens. Driving his passion to take the perfect shot is more than his personal desire to connect with nature, but to bring this desire and awareness to others.  

Bagley’s work immerses us in a world of beauty, mystery and intrigue. Through unrestricted free diving and his minimal approach to his process, we are taken on a meditative, underwater journey with minimal interruption and heightened senses. Light cuts through the water, reflecting off skin scales and fur. Bubbles shimmer in slow motion as marine life disappears into the ocean’s depths. A rising moon shines a small guiding torch into the purity of the darkness. It is these moments that Matthew is able to capture so effortlessly within a frame.  

Bagley's work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Monaco, Budapest, and Barcelona. His photographs have been featured in numerous publications, such as Australian Geographic, Vital Impacts photography collection, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Vanity Fair. Moreover, his images have garnered recognition in prestigious nature and wildlife photography competitions worldwide, including the Australian Wildlife / Nature Photographer of the Year, IPA silver award, MIFA gold award, Ocean Photographer Award finalist, ND Award gold finalist, and PA2F environmental photography award.

Image credit: Matthew Bagley, Unseen Tyre, 2023, ultraviolet light, long-exposure photography.

 

Berninneit Art Gallery

91-97 Thompson Ave, Cowes

Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm

Weekends 10am-4pm