by Carla Caruso
While some have started thinking about their New Year’s resolutions, one budding photographer has been looking even further ahead – and further afield.
Photography student Terry Hewitt was recently tasked with using AI, or artificial intelligence, for a TAFE SA project.
The 52-year-old chose to put the spotlight on your Adelaide Park Lands and what they might look like in 2050 if developers and governments keep chipping away at them.
In contrast to Green Adelaide this month celebrating three years of Adelaide being Australia’s first and only National Park City – “a city that actively works to improve its green spaces” – Terry’s photo, below, provides a bleak image for the future. However, he believes people power provides hope.
We spoke to Terry about his project and more.
The dystopian image of Adelaide in 2050, which Terry Hewitt created for a TAFE SA project. (The main photo, top, of Chihuly glass art in the Adelaide Botanic Garden / Park 11 is also by Terry.)
Terry, what inspired you to create a dystopian image of Adelaide in 2050?
I had to create an image incorporating AI [though] AI isn’t my thing at all. I think there’s enough amazing real things in the world to take photos of without making things up.
My concept was a dystopian vision of Adelaide in 2050 were the Park Lands to be almost entirely built over. I had recently read an article around the parks being encroached upon, with regard to the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
For the image, I used an original photo overlooking the city, with each additional ‘new’ building individually created and added by AI.
Photography student Terry Hewitt with his miniature schnauzer.
Your image does show some greenery thankfully, but not as much as we’re used to. What do you think living in a dystopian Adelaide would be like?
I think there will always be community-minded individuals and groups striving to maintain the environment in their immediate area.
So, there will always be pockets of greenery around the city, but I fear that [people] increasingly will be facing governments and developers wanting to take advantage of this land.
Part of the uniqueness of living in Adelaide is the proximity of the Park Lands, along with easy access to the sea and the hills. I think were we to lose these parks, Adelaide would become just another bland city.
Now’s the time to put a stop to any further building on the Park Lands, otherwise it will be death by a thousand cuts. The more construction that goes on now, the more that will be normalised for the future.
An aerial view of Palmer Gardens / Adelaide today. Photo: Hindmarsh Greening.
What sparked your interest in photography?
I’m studying a Diploma of Photography and Digital Imaging at TAFE SA’s Adelaide College of the Arts.
I got especially interested in photography whilst travelling in India. There’s so much visual interest there, it’s hard to not take an interesting photo. Travel photography is still my main area of interest.
I’m not sure if I’ll end up working full-time as a photographer when I finish TAFE or keep it as a side project.
[However] I’m always happy to hear from anyone who would like any photos taken, either commercially or particularly for longer-term, documentary-style essay projects, perhaps for non-profit organisations. I can be found and contacted on Instagram at hewitt.terry.
I also have some [art photography] items for sale on Redbubble. Everything is printed to order, so almost any image can be purchased on any item, including mugs, T-shirts, and phone covers.
An eight-legged friend snapped by Terry Hewitt.
We understand that Adelaide isn’t your hometown. What encouraged you to move here?
I’m originally from the UK, just north of London. I was a paramedic, then worked as a train driver before selling our house and almost everything we owned to go travelling, with my wife, Claire, an ED [emergency department] nurse.
We spent three months in a leprosy rehab village in Ghana, a year travelling around India, then a year driving around Australia in an old school bus. [Previously, the pair had a travel blog, Claire and Tel.]
We settled in Alice Springs for about 18 months. Claire worked for the Australian Centre for Disease Control, travelling to remote Aboriginal communities screening for and treating the eye disease, trachoma.
Terry with his late wife, Claire.
In May 2010, Claire rolled her car six times in the Outback and suffered multiple injuries, including a brain injury.
Four days later, she got transferred from Alice Springs Hospital to Flinders Medical Centre by the RFDS [Royal Flying Doctor Service] – we thought for a few weeks.
The treatment ended up being far more prolonged and complicated and we never went back to Alice.
I was mostly a full-time carer during those 13 years, but I did retrain and work briefly as a mortgage broker and also as a phlebotomist for 18 months [a health worker responsible for collecting blood and other biological samples from patients].
Claire sadly died in July 2023.
How often do you frequent the Adelaide Park Lands these days?
I probably get to the Park Lands every couple of weeks, normally with my miniature schnauzer, Stan – either walking along the River Torrens [Karrawirra Parri] and the surrounding parks or around Victoria Park [Pakapakanthi – Park 16].
I also go through phases of running around the University Loop in Park 10 [Bullrush Park / Warnpangga]. I need to get back into it!
Close-up image of greenery by Terry Hewitt.
