Bonita Ely was born in Mildura on the Murray Darling and has documented this expansive river system for more than four decades. In 1977 she travelled along the Murray and photographed sections of the riverbed framed by makeshift grids of sticks and string. Drawing from the visual language of scientific surveys, each grid captures a detail of Ely’s journey, from the pebbles at Corryong to the sandbanks of Lake Alexandrina, where the river meets the ocean.

Prompted by the Millennial Drought, Ely returned to the same locations in 2007. The river was now even more polluted: some areas were covered in blue-green algae and weed, others contaminated with acid sulfate, or dried up completely. As we look to the future, the Murray Basin remains at the centre of national challenges as to how we balance economic and agricultural priorities with environmental needs. Ely’s journeys along the river frame the degradation of this vital water system.