Peter Dombrovskis
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Peter Herbert Dombrovskis (Template:Langx; 2 March 1945Template:Spaced ndash28 March 1996)<ref name="ADB">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was an Australian photographer, known for his Tasmanian scenes. In 2003, he was posthumously inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame, the first Australian photographer to achieve that honour.<ref name=iphof>Template:Cite web</ref>
Biography
Dombrovskis was born in 1945 in a refugee camp in Wiesbaden, Germany to Latvian parents. Together with his mother, he migrated to Australia in 1950, and they settled in Template:TAScity, a suburb of Template:TAScity.<ref name=iphof/> The protégé of noted wildlife photographer and activist Olegas Truchanas,<ref name=anbg/> his photographs of the Tasmanian Wilderness, particularly his own annual Tasmanian Wilderness Calendar and the Wilderness Calendar produced by the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, brought images of once remote and inaccessible areas of the state into the public realm. Dombrovskis founded West Wind Press in 1977 and later went on to print calendars entirely of his own work, featuring incisive commentary from pre-eminent environmental professionals.
His most famous photograph is Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, which some commentators believe played a part in the victory of Bob Hawke in the 1983 Australian federal election.Template:Cn The photograph portrayed a section of the Franklin River which was to be submerged by the proposed Franklin Dam, and it highlighted the visual appeal of the Franklin River during the contentious "No Dams" campaign of 1982. In 1983, Dombrovskis published a book, Wild Rivers, co-authored with Bob Brown, which exemplified his skill in photographing the Gordon and Franklin rivers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On 28 March 1996, Dombrovskis died of a heart attack while photographing near Mount Hayes, in the Western Arthurs mountain range in South-West Tasmania.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
His works are represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the Australian Heritage Commission, and in private hands.<ref name=anbg>Template:Cite web</ref>
Exhibitions
- 2017 - Dombrovskis: Journeys into the Wild, National Library of Australia - Canberra, Australia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2020 - Tasmanian Wilderness, Cradle Mountain Wilderness Gallery - Cradle Mountain, Australia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
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- Dombrovskis collection of Tasmanian wilderness photographs, 1978–1995, National Library of Australia, Canberra, a collection of 21 colour photographs
- Gallery of photos by Truchanas and Dombrovskis