This photo is made from an ecological perspective on the landscapes that have been produced by the economic development of settler capitalism. Today there is only scattered remnant vegetation left from the clearance for agricultural production in the Fleurieu Peninsula. It's not a pretty picture.
The photo of an intimate landscape --dead roadside vegetation-- is the opposite of a nostalgic picture of a cosy, rural life to a harmonious settlement that has its roots in the yeoman tradition in the form of soldier settlements. The state government, as a promoter of economic development, in the early 20th century was also the architect of a desired cultural landscape and social class that emphasised the virtues of small-scale family owned and operated yeoman farms.
The ‘ pioneer legend’---which saw white settlement as a battle to win the land, in which humans were evenly pitted against nature---is now a form of myth making, given the emergence of agri-businesses and the family farm becoming all but obsolete. The pioneer idea, in pitting settlers against the land was not only fruitless, in leading to the ruin of the settlers, but self-defeating in ultimately ruining the land itself.