FEATURE
Documentary photography has been the catalyst for raising awareness – and instigating positive changes – since the camera could be taken into the field. However, it’s a genre more associated with professionals like photojournalists rather than most amateurs, yet documentary photography is just as effective at telling the small stories as the bigger ones with national or global implications. This was the impetus behind the Camberwell Camera Club’s plan at the end of 2021 – to create a project that challenged its members to create not just one great picture, but a whole portfolio that would be presented as a body of work with a documentary theme. Initially just called The Series Project, as it evolved, it was subsequently titled Light Years, a reference to 12-month period that the participants were given to complete their individual series of photographs.
The club’s patron is Melbourne professional photographer Bill Bachman, who has a string of very successful photo books behind him – including the much-reprinted – and
