The lake that fills once in a lifetime, now available to live with every day.
Veil Obscura's limited-edition print series is live. Each piece captures the scale and mineral beauty of Kati Thanda's rare transformation.
Shop the collection now via the link in bio.
Veil Obscura captures Lake Eyre’s rare transformation into an inland sea — a once-in-a-generation shift in light, mineral, and water.
Large-format prints were the only way photographer Sam Thies could honour that scale, nuance, and quiet drama.
Limited-edition prints go live December 12. Save the date.
Lake Eyre has held my fascination for as long as I can remember. Every major flood in the Channel Country sparked the same question, is this the year I travel west to see it come alive?
When record rains arrived in early 2025, I finally committed. We crossed some of Australia’s harshest terrain to reach Kati Thanda, arriving just as the lake began to recede, a brief moment between fullness and return.
The images made during that window form Veil Obscura, a print series and a book created to preserve this year’s rare flood cycle in a tangible and enduring way. It records the shifting systems revealed as water, mineral and light transformed the basin.
This book stands as a physical record of a moment that may not occur again for decades, a way to hold onto an event already dissolving back into stillness.
Pre order the Veil Obscura coffee table book via link in bio.
Photographer Sam Thies (@samthies ) followed the floodwaters 1,500km across Australia to witness something that happens once in a generation.
Veil Obscura captures Kati Thanda Lake Eyre fuller than it’s been since 1974 — a liquid veil of colour sweeping across the desert before vanishing back into silence. Limited edition prints launching December 12.
Learn more via the link in bio.
From Hollywood Western film set to desert legend - this is Pioneertown’s second act.
In 2020, two LA brothers breathed new life into an old ranch-town motel and turned it into Southern California’s most magnetic desert hideaway.
Step into the story of Mike & Matt French as they revive Pioneertown Motel, a place where dusty movie roots meet modern desert culture — and where nights come alive at Pappy & Harriet’s, with shows from the likes of Paul McCartney, Arctic Monkeys, and Queens of the Stone Age shaking the saloon walls.
@juliettaylor / Director / Cinematography
@dominiclocherfilms / Director / Cinematography
@nickbonsta / Producer / Creative Director
This is the most significant Lake Eyre transformation in fifty years.
Aerial imagery shows shifting water, mineral crust and abstract texture at their most dramatic.
A limited fine art book capturing this rare Australian moment.
Pre order the book at the link in bio and join the limited release exhibition at Newstead Studios on 11.12.25.
Hardcover fine-art book.
An abstract record of one of Australia’s rarest natural events.
Captured from 2,500 feet above Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre during its extraordinary 2025 filling - the most significant in fifty years.
A fleeting moment held in print.
A landscape revealed only in passing.
Pre-order now — link in bio.
#VeilObscura
#SamThies
#HumanTerrain
#FineArtPhotography
#Photobook
#AerialPhotography
#AustralianLandscape
#EnvironmentalArt
#ContemporaryPhotography
#ArtCollectors
#LakeEyre
#NatureAbstracts
Veil Obscura is a visual meditation on transformation, time, and the natural forces that shape our continent. A landmark project capturing Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre at its fullest in more than fifty years. This body of work stands as both an abstract record and a documentary of one of Earth's most extraordinary transformations.
Exhibition Launch: Thursday 11.12.25 at Newstead Studios - 22 Ross Street Newstead, Qld.
Production: @human.terrain
Director & Photographer: @samthies
Motion: @jumpinanddieagain
Producer: @ufoundjc
Producer: @nickbonsta
Media: @celebrateourcreatives
Gallery: @newsteadstudios
Acknowledgement: Produced on the traditional lands of the Arabana People
#veilobscura #katithanda #lakeeyre #fi̇neartphotography #australianlandscape #environmentaldocumentary #artbook #samthies #humanterrain
Our latest film follows Burnett Mary Regional Group and Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation as they bring ten islands in the Great Sandy Strait back to life, through cultural heritage work, removing invasive pests, and reviving traditional cool burning practices.
We spent two days in May out on the water, filming Butchulla people, with a focus on their next generation, heading back to the islands their ancestors looked after for thousands of years.
It's where traditional knowledge meets environmental science. With all involved learning from each other and healing together.
Project: Healing Butchulla Country
Client: @bmrg4nrm
Credits:
Producer: @ufoundjc
Creative Director: @nickbonsta
Director/Photographer: @samthies
DOP: @itsmikeyconlon
B-CAM/Drone Operator: @gately.ethan
Editor: @gately.ethan
#HumanTerrain #People #Place #GreatSandyStrait #Queensland #BMRG #BNTAC
John Ferguson, Mayor, Thargomindah, Qld 2020.
Our thoughts are with John and his tight knit community in the Channel Country this week as they battle record breaking floods.
The water is covering an area twice the size of Victoria, ravaging livestock, properties, roads and native eco systems.
We hope there’s a swift return to better times for everyone impacted.
