Pamela Pauline

Artwork title: Once Was

Medium: Unique 1/1 photographic collage on etching rag

Size: 95 cm x 125 cm

$5,100

About the Artwork

Once Was is a layered photographic landscape that bears witness to Australia’s vanishing biodiversity. Featuring sixteen threatened bird species, over 30 threatened flora, alongside seven threatened marsupials, this artwork is a visual archive of species teetering on the edge of extinction in 2025. Each photograph, taken by myself, with the guidance of wildlife and horticultural specialists, is a testament to what still exists—but for how long? Australia has the highest rate of extinction in the developed world. Once Was invites reflection on what we stand to lose and asks us to act before these species exist only in memory.

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About the Artist

Pamela Pauline is a photographic artist whose works celebrate the beauty and fragility of Australia’s flora and fauna. With a particular focus on threatened species, she uses photography to highlight the vulnerability and resilience of Australia’s ecosystems.
She is a two time recipient of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Still Life and won the National Trust Heritage Award for Exhibitions in 2021.  Her most recent media features include Berkeley’s Earth Island Journal Spring 2025 and the ABC’s Gardening Australia feature in September 2024.