Capturing the essence of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney in a two-minute video, budding film-maker Asher Shellim has encouraged all Australians to visit the Botanic Garden at least once in their lifetime.
“Hopefully ‘Your Sydney–Your Garden’ http://youtu.be/BpU5UBzlAQQ will draw people in and show them what they have on their doorstep. A lot of people don’t realise just how beautiful the Garden is,” Mr Shellim said.
“Mostly people see Sydney as busy. They take photos, people are everywhere, but I wanted to capture Sydney without the tourists and people. Capture it in a way that somebody could say, this is my city – that was the goal for this film.”
The Gardens’ Director of Public Engagement, Kate Faithorn, said in addition to attacting new visitors, they want people who’ve already experienced the Garden to have something to remember it by.
“This film captures the feeling and emotion that a lot of visitors experience during their visit,” Ms Faithorn said.
“Take a deep breath and relax when you watch the video, it evokes the experience of being at the Garden. By just watching the clip you can completely escape the stress of city-living; chill-out, relax and reflect on nature.
“‘Your Sydney–Your Garden’ captures the breadth of natural beauty right on the doorstep of Sydney’s
bustling CBD.
“The Garden is colossal in size. Along with the Domain, this green space makes up a quarter of the size of the city’s CBD. When you consider you can take your family to a safe environment and immerse yourselves in nature and yet be so close to everything, it’s a special experience everyone would enjoy,” she said.
Asher Shellim said he especially loves to create films around towns, beaches and attractions that people identify with.
“It’s exciting to create a visual world that may not be captured by anyone else. When I was at the Garden, I really loved the connection I had with the environment,” he said.
“It was amazing to film the Royal Botanic Garden. From being there at 7am to see a beautiful golden light come through — creating different shapes and textures — to seeing horticulturists at work with all the plants. It really opens your eyes to what sort of work that goes on in the Garden.
“When you consider it took me until I was 22 years-old to ever experience the Garden, there must be thousands of people like me. I really hope this film opens people’s eyes to its stunning beauty.”
(Photos by Simone Cottrell)
