Ripple Fest: From Floods to Festival
Festival finale energy - costumed community members celebrating in front of Rochester Shire Hall
There's something magical about regional arts festivals that you just don't get in the city. Maybe it's the way the entire town gets involved, or how you end up working alongside locals. Recently, I had the opportunity of documenting Ripple Fest in Rochester and Echuca – a festival born from something devastating but transformed into something extraordinary.
Lights at the Port of Echuca - Lasers & Projections
Art Rises from the Waters
Ripple Fest isn't just another arts festival. It emerged from Victorian Government funding allocated to communities recovering from flood damage.
The Serpeant in action - the beautiful chaos of setting up illuminated community art installations
Technical Playground
As someone who thrives on photography challenges, Ripple Fest was like being handed the ultimate technical puzzle box. Over four days, I documented everything from intimate DJ sets with moody purple lighting to massive outdoor projections on factory walls, fire performances that could singe your eyebrows, and delicate traditional ceremonies requiring absolute sensitivity.
Massive projections on factory walls
The projection work alone kept me on my toes. Photographing those enormous images splashed across industrial buildings meant constantly adjusting for wildly different light sources – the warm glow of tungsten projectors against cool blue evening sky, then suddenly bright flames from fire performers in the foreground. My camera settings were getting a serious workout!
Parades & Projections
The fire performances were particularly thrilling to capture. I aim to light the reactions of people in the audience with the firelight
Working with the Locals
Here's what I absolutely love about regional arts photography: you get to work as part of a team rather than as an outsider documenting an event. The Campaspe Council team and local volunteers didn't just tell me what to photograph – they showed me the stories behind the moments.
Stories of Resilience
What kept striking me throughout the four days was how this festival represented genuine community resilience. The workshops weren't just activities – they were ways for people to process, create, and connect after difficult times. The Bangarra Rekindling program, working with First Nations youth, wasn't just a performance – it was cultural preservation and celebration happening right in front of me.
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Technical Meets Emotional
Some of my favourite shots came from moments where technical complexity met genuine emotional content. Photographing traditional face painting during the day required completely different skills than capturing the same participants later during evening fire ceremonies. The warm afternoon light beautifully showed the detail and concentration during the painting process, while the dramatic evening flames created this incredible contrast for the ceremonial moments.
The projection work was particularly rewarding because it combined technical challenge with community storytelling.
Those massive images weren't just pretty lights – they were telling stories specific to this region, this recovery, these people.
The Ripple Effect
By the final day, I felt like I'd documented not just a festival but a community reclaiming its creative spirit. The images tell a story of transformation – from flood damage to community celebration, from individual workshops to collective performances, from day activities to magical evening spectacles.
Working with regional arts means getting to witness these genuine moments of community connection. It's not about photographing polished performances for distant audiences – it's about capturing real people engaging with art as a form of healing, celebration, and connection.
Sometimes the best assignments are the ones where you're not just documenting an event – you're capturing a community writing its next chapter. Ripple Fest was definitely one of those magical projects where art, community, and recovery all came together in front of my lens.
