When you learn who you are. When you learn who you aren't. An inspirational story of nature.

There are moments in our lives when we feel different. An unexplainable feeling of sadness, euphoria or power that comes over us like never before. At this moment we can choose to ignore the feeling or we can choose to embrace it and change our lives in an attempt to follow it. For me a moment of complete clarity and euphoria came when I first traveled to Yosemite National Park in 2011. The feeling was unexplainable, a sense of being finally existed within me. It was nature, real and epic, scary yet so natural. I was overcome. I traveled to Yosemite again in the winter of 2012 and had the same overwhelming experience. What was it about this place that captivated me? How could it make me feel this way and the incredible city of Rome or New York not?

Nature exists within all of us, we are mammals, we are an holistic part of nature. This is what I had felt during my experience at Yosemite. As a photographer and artist I could not think of anything more important than to attempt to express this feeling in my work. I have done so ever since. I capture nature because it is real, more real than money, more real than job security, more real than a house. Nature is all we truly have. Respect it. Nurture it. Love it. Become it.

Half Dome and Moon
Yosemite National Park

Frozen Lake, Half Dome and Moon
Yosemite National Park

Mer Island as seen through the Yashica D

It's been a few days since I arrived back on Mer Island. The place has been absolutely transformed by the monsoonal rains we've experienced over the past few weeks. It's been great to get back into a routine and my head back into my art.

A few weeks before we left the island I captured a handful of images with a Yashica D camera. The Yashica D is a Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera, meaning it has two lenses, one for viewing the image and one for capturing the image. The Yashica D is a medium format camera, which takes square images on 120 film. I had never used a TLR camera before and decided to use black and white film, attempting to capture that grainy, film look that these cameras do so well. Many say the medium format TLR cameras eclipse the image quality of any 35mm digital camera; I tend to agree from what I have seen. I used 400-asa film, which allowed me to shoot in lower light and not have too much grain. The images turned out quite well for a camera made in 1959. What I am blown away by is the build quality of the Yashica D; it's solid and works so smoothly for its age.

I took the camera back to the mainland for the holidays; unfortunately my Labrador managed to smash it. These are the only images I have from my days with the Yashica D. The best part about using this camera was being forced to take my time when considering and composing an image. Using old film cameras without meters really slows you down. 

The images here are of Mer Island, with some portraits of my adopted family (mother Etta Sam and brother Tyrese Passi), my wife Hayley Wilkes and one double exposure, another fun aspect of using these cameras.

Happy New Year! Gelam in Silhouette.

Happy New Year!


What a year it has been. In January we moved from Brisbane City to Mer Island in the Torres Strait, which is certainly the craziest, scariest and most incredible thing I’ve ever done. I've been adopted by a Meriam family and now have two cultures, three languages and countless siblings, uncles, aunties and grandparents, which is a pretty big change for an only child from a small family. We've had the most incredible year on Mer and have had the opportunity to do so many things that very few people will get to do. I'm eternally grateful to all of the incredible Meriam people that have welcomed us to their island and educated us along the way, genuinely some of the most lovely and inspiring people I have ever met. I would also like to thank all of our family and friends on the mainland for your support throughout the year. We miss you like crazy and couldn't have done this without your constant support.

The following series of photographs entitled "Gelam in Silhouette" were taken on Mer Island and are composed of Mer Island's most sacred landmark. The story of Gelam is ancient and extremely important to the Island of Mer. The titles of these photographs are quotes from different conversations I have had with elders about Gelam. please follow this link to watch Elimo Tapim tell this wonderful story.

G1 "Where the small hut is"

G2 "I can see them from here, but only at night"

G3 "That's the nostril, a cave with unknown treasures"

G4 "It's level for building, they rebuild every night"

G5 "Never go up at night and keep your lights on"

G6 "Just be careful up there"

If you are interested in purchasing any of these prints please follow this link to the Life in Fine Art Etsy store, or contact me directly at the email below.

Happy New Year people! Bring on 2014.



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Life In Fine Art

Firstly I would like to welcome you all to my new blog!

What is Life In Fine Art all about? Well, it's a blog about art that fascinates me, local artists who inspire and excite me and my own artistic endeavours including the ups and down of my crazy, remote island life. I live in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia on an extremely remote island, which is both incredibly beautiful and scarily wild at the same.

I hope you all enjoy what is to come and please feel free to contact me about any of my works of art and upcoming exhibitions.

Thank you.

Lee Wilkes.

Artist: Lee Wilkes

Title: Gelam 1

Media: Photograph