For over fifteen years, Fredericks has used the landscape to make representations of his sublime experiences in isolation, in locations that are defined by their space and power. Drawing on minimalist Fredericks’ approach has been to find locations that are devoid of features and ideally bounded by a 360 degree, perfectly flat horizon.
His first major project entitled Salt (2009) was produced in the middle of Lake Eyre, an extensive salt pan in South Australia’s outback. Fredericks camped alone, in the middle of the dry lake for many weeks at a time. In these epic, often arresting mages, Fredericks captures the lake’s thick, salt-encrusted surface, its light and colour effects at different times of day and in various climatic conditions, and its surrounding expanses of arid land; all this to reflect the experience of living and shooting alone in a sublime, remote environment.
‘These images do not set out to describe the geographical location of the landscape but describe the deeper feeling, the experience of being there.
To me that experience is very much about a sense of freedom and release.’ – Murray Fredricks
Salt: The Documentary
Salt is the documentary film of the project that was commissioned by the ABC, Screen Australia, The Adelaide Film Festival and the PFTC. The film, directed and produced by Michael Angus, was Fredericks' first venture into cinematography and went on to win numerous international awards.