Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Powerhouse Renewal

A transformative renewal program across four sites

Walking Along the Parramatta River

Photography Commission

We Rise

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

An initiative of the Powerhouse: Future Space program

2024

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

Powerhouse Parramatta Topping Out

Major construction milestone achieved for the new museum

2024

Stories

Walking Along the Parramatta River

Photography Commission

Photography by Matteo Dal Vera. Words by Stephen Todd

Andy smoking his fourth cigarette, Parramatta, 2023.

‘When you’re taking a picture with the 4x5 you also have to be present in every part of the process, because it’s an all-manual camera. It’s the perfect excuse to look around a little longer and think about what’s in front of you.’

Matteo Dal Vera

Outside Abbotsford Sailing Club, Abbotsford.

Old Naval Yard and at the time Harbour Constructions, Putney.

Matteo Dal Vera came to photography through walking. As a young boy living in Italy and walking through the Dolomite Mountains in South Tyrol. As a student of photography at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), when he and fellow undergraduate Michael Weatherill spent time walking through over-grown desire paths by the Nepean River, taking pictures for their series The Bridge. And for his latest collection of images, commissioned by Powerhouse Museum, for which he spent 18 months walking along the Parramatta River, 24 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD and the site of the imminent Powerhouse Parramatta.

His technique may have evolved – from a compact digital camera picked up when he was 10, to a 4×5 large format apparatus and printing in his own darkroom – yet his vision has remained constant.

“I think, as a photographer you need to make a conscious effort to be observant, allowing the moment to come,” he says. “I need to experience something first, then let the picture come.”

Stephen Todd What is the significance of the Parramatta River to you?

Matteo Dal Vera Initially I was fascinated by the fact that the Parramatta River is the main tributary of the Sydney Harbour. They have a shared history and yet the river’s existence is overshadowed by the typical tourist attractions of the harbour. Thinking about this led me to an early fixation that I wanted to see the river from start to end. So, I bush-bashed through all this dense vegetation, just so I could see the head of the river and the two small creeks that fed into it. Which was, it turns out, a very underwhelming experience. It was full of weeds and there was a construction site on it. From this early point in the project, the Parramatta River has reminded me to let go of our obsession with the idealised landscape and to appreciate the nuanced ways in which the river changes and supports life around it.