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The November 2008 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly profiled the newly appointed Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce, undertaking the first leg of her inaugural trip, which was into Australia’s rural heart. Her first port of call was Bourke, a town struggling to stay viable under the adverse conditions now affecting the Murray-Darling Basin System. It was a case of finding an archetypal location to tell the story and I found it on the edge of town at the old wharf overlooking the Darling River. It was an honour to meet her. She brings a whole new style to the office, with a great compassion for children’s welfare. I had five minutes to weave my magic and get the shot. She is a very elegant and thin and the way she poised herself resembled the elegance of the limbs of the gum trees behind her. I made mention of that, which made her smile and relax into a comfortable pose – just what I was wanting. Needless to say I blazed away on the Nikon D3, and quickly got the shot I was looking for.  Terri Irwin Portrait– October 2008 The October 2008 issue of the Australian Women’s Weekly profiled Terri Irwin, the 47-year-old widow of famed crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin. I traveled to the remote Wenlock River near the tip of Cape York to photograph Terri ‘in action’ catching saltwater crocodiles in the wild. Like most assignments things never go according to plan. Her team of experts were catching a crocodile a day for the past four weeks - but on our arrival things went quiet. The lack of crocs became a positive thing in a way. It challenged me to plan a portrait that could stand on its own. I suggested we needed something ‘Amazonian’. Fortunately Terri was happy to oblige. So we found lots of mud and waist deep water. The rest came down to Terri’s great sense of purpose and strength, which gave the portrait the required gravity, and hence a successful shot.  Paralympian Cyclist Jayme Paris – September 2008 Jayme Paris was featured in the September edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly. It was one of a series of portraits I was commissioned to do for the magazine to coincide with the Paralympic Games in Beijing. (Jayme went on to win Bronze in the 500m Time Trial event.) It was a friendly shoot with Mum and Dad giving me a hand to hold lights and keep Jayme chatting – which wasn’t too hard to do. Jayme wasn’t able to talk or walk after a horrific birth, which left her with a form of cerebral palsy, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams. Her advice to others is, “Never be afraid to change course in your life and there is no such word as ‘can’t’.”  Pacific Islander Footy– August 2008 The September 8th issue of TIME magazine featured an article by staff writer Daniel Williams about the revolution of Maori and Pacific Islanders on Australasia’s most popular football codes. (mostly sons of poor Tongan and Samoan immigrants) These groups form just one two-hundreth of the Australian population, yet occupy a massive one-quarter of the NRL ranks. They have electrified the game with players such as Sony Bill Williams, Willie Mason and Wycliff Palu. The Polynesian influx have also transformed traditional junior league matches in the suburbs, as Polynesian kids grow much faster than Aussie kids. A league administrator says “it breaks my heart to see a kid weighing 35 kg get flattened by an opponent who weighs 80 kg.” In Sydney’s west I came across a very pleased looking Zac Dalton (centre) who plays on the same under 10 year old team as William Lee Namulauulu (left) and Henry Nafoi.  Robert McFarlane – Portrait 2008 I first met Robert in 1984 – he strolled into my workplace at the old National Times newspaper office for a chat and mentioned his interest in writing. “I’ve been a bit of a scribe,” he announced. I had no idea what a great scribe he was to go on and become. (not to mention his fine contribution to as an observant and important photographer of our times) Institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW introduce Robert as, ‘the eminent Australian photographer, writer and photography critic’. Indeed Robert’s output as a writer has been prolific and tireless ever since that mid-winter’s day back in 1984, most notably as the photography critic for the Sydney Morning Herald. I bumped into Robert recently at an opening at the Museum of Sydney and was struck by his mane of silver hair. It was a spontaneous thing but I felt I should photograph it – and of course the man himself. I’m glad he agreed. We met in an inner-city terrace recently and he patiently sat in a darkened room while I sought to weave my magic with a torch in my hand. I think I caught something? I’m glad I did. The hair had grown long as a result of a medical procedure and he was now weary of it. It’s being cut off this week. Thank goodness for photographs I say. Some things deserve to be recorded and I’m pleased to have recorded Robert.  PORTRAIT OF COMEDIAN WENDY HARMER AT HOME Comedian and broadcaster Wendy Harmer, is currently doing an ABC TV series called stuff. I photographed her at home recently for Australian Country Style Magazine. Yes! There is a lot of stuff at her place, which is a rambling home perched on the edge of an escarpment on Sydney’s northern beaches. But of course STUFF can be a problem when you are taking photographs. I always remember an early teacher of mine, Alan Grey who introduced me to the principles of good visual composition. LESS IS MORE he intoned. It’s a philosophy I still take in my camera bag with me, 25 years later. A rusty gate and a riot of grape vines was enough STUFF for me, to create this portrait.  Aboriginal Rock Engraving – MacKenzies Point NSW This is a continuation of my Aboriginal Rock Engraving Series that I began in 2006 (see Jibbon Point story further down this page) I have continued to explore the variety and nature of these unique artworks and in particular their juxtaposition to modern-day Sydney. This engraving of a ray by the Cadigal clan, is situated beside the popular coastal walk between Bondi and Tamara beaches. The left fin of the creature almost touches the walkway, but sadly thousands of joggers and pedestrians pass this site each day with few ever stopping to consider what is there. “No other city in the world has in its environs such a rich prehistoric heritage – so many records made before the written word.” Wrote Stanbury and Clegg, the authors of the definitive guidebook to these sites. This photo was published by the Sydney Morning Herald in January 2008 and has attracted considerable interest.  CHRISTMAS WITH MY BABY BOY – Bundeena, December 2007 Christmas this year has a magical feeling to it, thanks to the birth of our boy Tuomo in May. I now have a sense of what all the fuss was about when Jesus was born in the manger. Not that I’m saying Tuomo’s a Messiah (though he is pretty special) - more that the miracle of birth is something worth celebrating. I snapped my little boy sleeping in his cot just a few days ago. I slipped a grey background paper behind him and the star was drawn using my (now famous) maglight technique. I lit the whole scene with just one little torch. It means every frame is unique – you never really know what you’re going to get until the image comes out at the other end of the camera – which is a bit like having a baby I guess. Merry Christmas!  It felt that John Howard would always be a permanent fixture of the political scene in Australia. Certainly for any Australian under the age of 21, Howard is all they have known. I took this photo as part of a Time Magazine assignment, to cover the Liberal Party election night events. As Howard headed for the exit sign at the Wentworth Hotel it was amazing how quickly he slid out of public consciousness. Minutes later the TV crews and journalists packed up their cables and microphones, Howard posters were pulled down off the walls and the ballroom was left with a faintly surreal air. He was gone like a puff of smoke.  Postcard from Dolphin Street - Father's Day 2007 A little alien arrived in our life three months ago. He materialised onto a clean white sheet in our bedroom and has been hovering about ever since. The last time I had any association with aliens was a couple of years back in the Northern Territory. There an old fencer bloke called Tom said he would often see flying saucers from another galaxy fly past his camp at night while he was sleeping in his swag. When I awake at night, I don’t see flying saucers but a wooden cot in the corner of the room. I sometimes climb out of my bed and stagger over to it in the middle of the night and look down admiringly at my son’s tiny fingers curling in the dark, listen to his curious gurgling sounds and try to imagine, what if anything, inhabits his dreams. Friends and family say that these little aliens are called ‘babies’. (As a first-time dad I’m on a steep learning curve) They say that if you feed them, love them, read to them and sing them happy songs, that one day these little aliens will come to resemble us. So that’s what we’ve been doing. With a name like Tuomo Solness, I can imagine him one day becoming secretary general of the United Nations or perhaps a Greenpeace eco-warrior. One of his major achievements so far is to sprout a pair of wobbly aerials from the top of his head. I don’t know what they mean, but I’m extremely proud.  credits | photos | cont@ct | current projects | curriculum vitae | home |