A thousand words

have camera will travel

This photo was taken during a journey from Port Augusta to Alice Springs on the famous Ghan passenger train, part of a 10-week photo trip across Australia in 2015. I sat next to an indigenous family - grandmother, mother and daughter – who were traveling north to a better future. The image speaks to me of their hopes for what lay ahead, a love for the land to which they belong and a quiet pride in who they are.

For twenty-five years I was a filmmaker, curator/exhibitor and distributor, achieving modest critical success with festival, TV and publishing credits, and an international award for cinematography. Overall, I found the process of filmmaking a frustrating one with too much time spent on raising money and keeping people happy; too little on creative activities. And then, in 2014, I 'discovered' photography.

During an often nomadic life, I’ve made and lost many friends, but have now found one that is with me for the duration. More adventurous than I am, with a sometimes crazy disregard for personal safety, my camera takes me to places I didn’t know existed, shows me things I never thought I’d see and introduces me to people I never expected to meet. We’ve been together for a while, now, and get along just fine. I think it will stay that way.