|
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.  The other day I was trawling my photo files for a summer image to put on the site. It was one of those 43 degree January days and I couldn’t go past this refreshing old favorite, shot in 1977. My first ever published image was a double-page spread in Surfing World magazine in 1975. For several years I became a regular contributor to Australian surfing magazines including Tracks and Surfing World and people (mostly ex-surfies) still remember my name from that era. In those days you were lucky to get your original colour transparencies back from the printers after the magazine had published them. I think it was an old-fashioned way of ensuring exclusive-usage of the image. Even if the published photos did turn up in an old envelope in the mailbox, many looked like they had ‘accidentally’ slipped under the heavily soiled boots of someone in a printing shop’s back room. This old pic from Shark Island defied the odds and today lives again, 30 years later.  My son Tuomo Solness is named after his Finnish great-grandfather. Apparently Finland is also the ‘true’ home of Santa Claus, who has his own village, post office, hotel and even theme park, situated in the far north of the country. There are a lot of reindeers and snowy landscapes up there at this time of the year, which is a far-cry from sunny Heffron Park in Maroubra, where young Tuomo was snapped recently. Tuomo used to push this cart for hundreds of metres up and down hills as he developed his now impressive walking skills. A true candidate for one of Santa’s little helpers, I would have thought.  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!  credits | photos | cont@ct | current projects | illuminated landscape | curriculum vitae | home |