"COME AND SEE ME" PHOTOGRAPHING INLAND AUSTRALIA
By Coral Hull
Cows in the Evening, Barkly Hwy, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Fence Post, The Royal Hotel, Birdsville, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Fish and Sunlight, Derby Pier, Derby, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
White Cows in Sunlight, Victoria Hwy, The Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Moon and Spear Grass, Victoria Hwy, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Grass Fire, Tanami Track, The Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Ruins #11, Beresford Bore Railway Siding, Oodnadatta Track, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2000)
Corella in Death, Wyndam, Crocodile Farm, Wyndam, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Freshwater Crocodile, Windjana Gorge, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
White Horse, Dajarra, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Ruins #7, Wangianna Railway Siding, Oodnadatta Track, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Zebra Finches, Curdimurka Ruins, Oodnadatta Track, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Self Portrait at Cattle Yards, Birdsville Track, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Short-Billed Corellas, Wyndam, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Cow in Cattle Truck, Barkly Hwy, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Trunk and Leaves, Echidna Chasm, Purnululu National Park, East Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Frog Hole, Purnululu National Park, East Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Pandanus, Emma Gorge, The Kimberleys, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Roadkill Cow, Great Northern Hwy, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Ruins #13, Wangianna Railway Siding, Oodnadatta Track, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2000)
Crocodile Tear, Wyndam Crocodile Farm, Wyndam, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Horses in the Morning, Barkly Hwy, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Grass Fire #2, Tanami Track, The Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Peregrine Falcon, Tanami Track, The Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Palm in Sunlight, Echidna Chasm, Purnululu National Park, Western Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Ants on Trunk, The Royal Hotel, Birdsville, South Australia, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Dingo in the Evening, Tanami Track, The Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Wind in the Mitchell Grass, Barkly Hwy, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
White Cows in Sunlight #2, Barkly Hwy, Queensland, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull 2002)
Artist's Statement: I have been travelling into the Australian outback for most of my life. In 2001 I bought a Sony Cybershot. It was my first decent camera. I was 35 yrs old. I did what I had always done and continued photographing. I photographed the most gruesome things but there seemed to be a shift in my interpretation of the subject matter. Everything began to look beautiful and to take on mystical characteristics involving light and space. Even a kangaroo roadkill corpse became something perhaps to take home and mend like a one-eyed teddy bear, perhaps even something to still relish its life. As the world became darker for me, I was wondering if this was my way of saving myself. In 2002 I went to the Kimberley (North Western Australia) with two companions. I undertook the journey with the intention if documenting outback roads and tracks. I opened myself up to the inland and asked it what it required of me this time. It was as if god placed a hand upon my shoulder and said, "come and see me". While in Kununurra I had a moment to myself while the others went off to explore the town. It had been a long day's drive along the Victoria Highway. I unwound by absorbing the stillness of the river nearby. I was staring out over the water. Soon the ripples began to form patterns that were of some deliberate nature and not of the river's tendency. The movement was going against the current, spiraling slowly clockwise and anti-clockwise, each ripple pushed and pulled into motion by the other, in a similar way that I would imagine a galaxy forming itself. For a long time now I had wanted to create an animal sanctuary combined with an artistic retreat. I knew that the odds were aganist this from the start. Yet I continued to fret over the idea for several years. I was concerned that if I didn't create a sanctuary on earth, that I would somehow fail god. I thought, what am I doing out here in the bush making art when so many suffer? I asked, "what if I am unable to create this sanctuary, what then? The reply seemed to come from the river itself. It said, "you don't have to create heaven on earth. It's already there. You just have to show them where it is". This was a marvellous relevation. It has taught me to utilise my creative strengths, rather than attempt to operate within a system that repelled me. With this in mind I took the camera and allowed myself to be led by the sacred inland of Australia. Everything became luminous from the termite mound to the roadhouse, from the dead cow's face to the face in the moon, from the cattle walking in the late afternoon, to a strand of pandanus curling into the humidity of a granite gorge. I reverted to what I have always been, into everything around me. I am not here to perfect what is already perfected. I am a humble witness to an ever evolving world. This is what being a photographer is about to me. To be of the world that is lit, unlit and perfect.
Several photographs from this feature have previously appeared in Coppertales (Australia) and Inland (Zeus Pubications, 2001). This research trip was assisted through funding from The Australia Council for the Arts.
About the Photographer Coral Hull
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Coral is the author of over 35 books of poetry, fiction and digital photography. She is the Executive Editor and Publisher of Thylazine; a biannual ezine featuring articles, interviews, reviews, photographs and the recent work of Australian writers and artists with a special interest in indigenous issues. Coral holds a Doctor of Creative Arts Degree (Creative Writing Major) from the University of Wollongong. She also maintains a website of her own poetry, articles and artwork on JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Her book Broken Land: 5 Days in Bre 1995 won the Victorian Premiers Award in 1998 and was broadcast on ABC Radio National in two separate programs. Coral received her first literary grant (Established Writer category) from the Literature Board of The Australia Council for the Arts in 2001. Coral is The Director of The Thylazine Foundation: Arts, Ethics and Literature which assists children and animals. Coral Hull supports 'free culture' and her work is in the public domain for non-commercial use under the Creative Commons License. A biography, list of publications, festivals, interviews, articles and reviews are on her website. |
[Above] Coral Hull, Elliot Hotel, Elliot, Northern Territory, Australia. (Photo by Coral Hull, 2001)
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Thylazine No.8 (September, 2003) |