It is believed that 20,000 people lost their lives in civil war in Bougainville between 1987 and 1999. Amy Perkins caught up with the artist, Jon Lewis, whose photographs captured the horror and the hopes of the people of Bougainville.

In an exhibition at UTS Gallery from April 10 to May 11, Australian photographer Jon Lewis presented a series of confronting black and white photographs entitled Bougainville Portraits: Facing the Place.

Having travelled to the island province in 2002 and 2003, Lewis’ striking digital images are testament to the courage of the Bougainvillean people who live with the aftermath of an indescribably violent and bloody war.

“Any country or group of people that has been through a 13 year secessionist war are a little bit traumatised. No-one escaped that war…nobody,” Lewis says.

Capturing an image of a young boy from the region, Lewis reflects on the symbolism present in many of his photographs.

“It’s particularly visceral and upsetting when you see a boy who’s spent a lot of time carving a wooden gun to play with after his country, and indeed his family and friends and immediate community have been through a 13 year war” he says.

Fiercely passionate about our world, its history and the diverse relationships within it, Lewis is compelled to connect with everyone and everything he encounters.

“I’m a person who likes to engage,” he says.

“[If my work] upsets you, makes you curious, or interested, shocked or you want to know more [I have done my job].”

Describing the photographic process as a collaboration between photographer and subject, Lewis says the connection “may only last a few seconds in some instances, it may last a lifetime in others…The most important thing is to have respect for the person you’re photographing. I always ask people.”

It is believed that 20,000 Bougainvillean people lost their lives between 1987 and 1999, and Lewis hopes that his images will translate not only the trauma these people have experienced, but their “warmth, humanity, dignity, sadness, and sorrow.”

However living in such a socially and politically charged climate can be dangerous, and Jon Lewis has had some hairy encounters in the name of art. “I got into a little bit of trouble with some drunken rascals who tried to kill me,” he says, adding that he escaped by “running very fast!”

Having also lived in Indonesia and East Timor, Lewis says “Experience always pays off in some respects.”

Boasting an extensive body of work that documents aspects of nature as well as people, Lewis says “There’s a part of me that likes to go and talk to rocks and trees as well”.

His fascination with the land is intrinsically linked with Indigenous spiritualism and the idea that “Australia was made by ancestors that morphed between human and animal.” Currently living in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Lewis says, “When one is in the bush you start to think about the mythology that went into the creation of that bush,” and explains that his nature-focused photographic work is not presented in a traditional or west-coast American sense, but that it presents the “bush” in the sense of what he has learned from the Indigenous people.

Whether the relationship is with trees or humans, it is clear that the connection Lewis establishes with his subject matter is paramount and in going about his work, he also hopes to give something back.

“I think it’s important in life to make a difference” he says.

Despite his substantial portfolio, Jon Lewis says he hasn’t completed his favourite work yet. “I’m very proud of the work when it gets attention, but as far as the best exhibition that I’ve had, I think that one’s going to be in the future.”

Currently Jon Lewis is working with the Muslim community and says, “I think it’s a noble thing to do…There’s a lot of Islamic phobia about…I think that the Muslim community here in Australia has had a hard time. But I don’t talk too much about what I’m going to do when I haven’t done it.”

Although he has seen some terrible atrocities, Lewis is still hopeful and believes in the power of positive thought. “If there wasn’t hope we wouldn’t be going to places like Bougainville, or attempting projects with the Muslim community or the Indigenous community. I do it because I am optimistic. I want a better world” he says.