Story Archive
- THREE GENTLE STORIES IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
- THE STAGE - FINALLY I AM ON IT
- BROKEN
- THE ROAD
- THE WEIGHT OF THINGS
- RANDOM THOUGHTS AND ACHING BONES
- FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD
- Vale Tommie
- A BIG WALK - Step by Step
- IN DEFENCE OF NIMBIN
- SLEEPING WITH THE ANGELS
- THE LADY BUSHRANGER
- OUT OF THE SHIRE
- THE SOUND OF RAIN
- AND SO IT BEGINS - The Great Australian Crawl.
- NO MANS LAND
- THE FROG IN THE TOILET BOWL
- LEN BENCE - THE ARTIST WARRIOR
- SWAGMAN IN SEARCH OF A CONCEPT
- THE GERMAN ABORIGINAL
- NOT LONG NOW
- LOTS OF THINGS COMING
- DAD'S COMING
- THE BEING LEFT ALONE FEELING
- YES - I STOLE THE CHOCOLATE
- THE OLD COAT
- THE PARTY
- MEMORIES
- DOG WALKING IN A CEMETERY
- MY KENNEL IS GOING UNDER THE HAMMER!
- DAD'S BACK
- THE BIG CHILL
- THINGS HAPPEN THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WILL HAPPEN
- THE NEW KENNEL
- ALFRED STIEGLITZ - THE ELOQUENT EYE
- AN IDEA FOR DINGO DAY!
- THE GARDENS OF STONE
- DON'T RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT!
- MOTHER'S DAY
- TODAY
- THE NIGHT LINDA JAIVIN DROPPED ME
- Old Nana
- SIMPATICO
- Nuggets
- THE WUFFINGTON POST-2
- C-C-C-C-CHANGES
- THE WUFFINGTON POST-1
- MAKE MY DAY
- A NEW YEARS DAY LIKE ANY OTHER!
- RECIPES FROM OLD SOULS
- A DOG'S CHRISTMAS
- Well this is Christmas!
- MY NEW BOOK IS COMING!
- OLD MAN - OLD GRIEF
- GOD - WHAT A FORTNIGHT WE'VE HAD
- WILLIAM-JAMES HAS ARRIVED
- CAESAR'S ISLAND
- I HAVE LOST MY EAR-ECTION
- BUSTED IN BOULIA
- YEE HAA! ITS THE HARTS RANGE RACE DAY
- TRULY ... THERE WERE ANIMALS EVERYWHERE
- Old Man Hermann
- THERE IS AN ART TO BEGGING
- ROLL UP -- ROLL UP - ITS THE TRAVELING R&R SHOW
- MOLLY & ME
- EDITING A LIFE
- BUZZ ... BABBLE ... BUBBLE ... BURRA ... BACKHOUSE
- THE MAGIC KENNEL & ROAD TRAINS WITHOUT CATTLE
- I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START
- CREATIVE DRIVES - BEAUTIFUL VOICES - MISSIONARY PLAINS.
- WHAT A WEEK WE'VE HAD
- I'VE GOT A MAN CRUSH ON BEN HALL
- GOING GOING GOING ..... GONE
- I LOVE WRITING ABOUT SNIFFING & EATING
- THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY
- ROADIES, GERMANS & A JAPANESE ADVENTURER
- THE MAD DASH
- MY NEW COAT
- DOES DAD THINK I'M STUPID?
- THE ITALIAN PENTHOUSE
- I AM POWERLESS OVER COWS
- ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
- COMING HOME
- BLOG ON BLOGGING - THREE MONTHS WRAP
- ROLLING OVER
- CONTACT & THE DINGO
- SAD BUT BEAUTIFUL
- VICTORY WITHOUT TRIUMPH IN HAY
- ALISON HUNT - SENIOR DESERT WOMAN
- I AM NOT ANGRY - JUST A LITTLE DISSAPOINTED
- HOLIDAY WITH THE CHOOKS
- EAGLE HAWK NECK
- MAX IN HAHNDORF
- WHAT ABOUT THE HANDSOME PEOPLE?
- DRUGS & RADISHES
- MY NAME is TOM AND I AM AN OVER EATER
- BOGGED AND STRANDED
- BUTT NAKED IN MORGAN
- ON THE ROAD AGAIN
- The CHEF, the ABORIGINALS, the BLOND & the BULL
- A SADHU OF THE OUTBACK
- CONDOMS & BIRD SEED
- TOMMIE, STEVE AND KIRA
- ADELAIDE AND BACK
- GUNNING READY OR NOT
- AN IDEA IS ANSWERED
- TOMMIE
DON'T RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT!
Raymond
I have learnt one particular lesson from landscape photography and that is to not, as Dylan Thomas exhorted, 'rage against the dying of the light' but rather to ride its last decline like a surfer. In the death throes of the day the light can illuminate the smallest of flowers ... or encourage a forgotten rock to shine ... or interrogate a tree to reveal its shadows.
In that light a possibility exists to reveal a part of the world that had lain hidden in the nakedness of the blazing sun. I have found myself, as the sun was finally spent, crawling back to my campsite just as spent; sweating, hyper-ventilating and exhausted from an immersion in the light's last act. Not bad for a 60 year old to feel like a boy after his first kiss. But I do and that's a bloody good thing too.
Here are some photos, taken over the past year or so, where words might enrich the image. I'll start with this one:
THE RED MULGA
Tommie and I were camped off the side of the road past Marla in Central Australia. We established camp right just in time to see the last red light catching this ordinary looking mulga, giant red fingers suddenly emerging from its trunk. From 60 metres away I was able to change lens and take the photo. The photography lesson for me was a simple one. These images exist in the loneliest of places but you have to go there and bear witness.
THE EXPLODING WALL
Two minutes before taking this image I was packing up. I could see the composition but it needed the sun to blast the wall and for the sky to clear. One last look back as I was about to drive off and everything was out again, like newly weds on their honeymoon. The photography lesson for me was a simple one. ... It ain't over til its over.
WALPIRI WOMAN.
Ok so it wasn't last light but it was its bi-polar twin, FiRST LIGHT. This old woman was waking and starting to get her paints together for another day of art. She asked my for a cigarette which I didn't have. I asked her for a photo. We did a deal - a photo for a packet of cigarettes. The old lady sleeps in the Todd River. As I took the photo she swept her hair off her face and tried the best she could. The light caught the tear in her eye. My photography lesson. You have to walk in the creek beds to find Australia.
I invite you all to our renamed SHOOTING FROM THE HEART PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP. We can all hyperventilate like children on their first date together ... and that's a bloody good thing too.
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