It’s a January thing. It’s easy in the dark, cold, never ending void that is the British winter that my thoughts always turn to a life in the sun. It all seems so perfect and easy in your head until real life slaps you in the face and you have to force yourself out of bed into the work clothes and out the door while it’s dark, slogging away for no reason other than to pay the rent, only to arrive home in the same darkness in which you left.
I was incredibly fortunate to find a place I will forever call home in my heart. A place that instantly reached out for me, and where, half the time, my head still is.
Sydney, Australia.
The people I met that I now class as lifelong friends, the nooks and crannies of a place of the tourist trail that I fell in love with. What better place to spend the rest of your life.
I know plenty of friends that have travelled in the opposite direction and have found that sense of belonging here, and the only thing we can all agree on is the question: ‘Why do you love it? It’s a hole’ of our respective home towns.
It’s a question I’ve often thought about – and I guess the only conclusion I’ve been able to reach is that somewhere can only be truly appreciated through a visitors eye. I don’t think, as an outsider, anyone can ever tire of going to work everyday over the Sydney Harbour Bridge – always in awe of the beauty of what lies beneath it. I don’t think anyone can ever tire of catching the ferry across the harbour, soaking up the morning and evening sun while going to work and back. What nicer way to start a day?
In the twenty six years I grew up in London, I never once felt privileged or lucky to be there. Twenty five grand of debt can attest to that. Though there is no denying the sheer majesty of many of London’s buildings and the weight of its history.
Never, in all my time in London did I take my camera to work to capture the city around me like I did in Sydney. For a city that is so comparitively young, it offers so much more for the photographic eye. Of xourse you have the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, but there is so much more. Sydney is unique, I think, in its attitude and culture. It’s not just a city built for work – it’s one of the playgrounds of the world – a place that is so warm in every sense of the word that you cannot fail to fall in love in and with it.
My favourite photo, not only from Sydney, but possibly in my whole collection is this one:
This was shot almost fresh off the plane in September 2009. Claire and I were staying at friends in Neutral Bay until we had a place of our own sorted. If you’ve never been to or heard of Neutral Bay, it’s where I would love to call home. Right on the harbour, ten minutes from the city and stunningly beautiful.
I was rudely awoken at about 5 AM by our friend and way too generous host Rachel, who said it was like nothing that had been seen before, and I should get outside pronto.
What I saw was exactly as the picture tells it. A mist of bright orange. Wherever you looked. The whole city was engulfed in this cloud. Eery on the verge of being apocalyptic – it certainly awoke me from my slumber. I went outside to the street, and it was choking. I could feel the dust at the back of my throat. If I could imagine the end time, it would probably look something like this.
Top tip folks: When faced with something like this, don’t try and change your lens. ‘No you didn’t’ I hear you shout – well, actually…yes. Yes I did. I am dumb, and did I mention it was an ungodly hour? Anyway, I was excited – I wanted to get some images filed for the papers back home. Thanks ERROR 99.
Rubbish.
Luckily, Matt, the other guy that put up with us eating his food, is also a Canon man, so let me borrow his 550D – now, being used to the 1D, I didn’t have a clue about how to use it, I just put on my trusty 24-70, and walked very quickly for ten minutes down to the bridge.
I have seen some amazing shots of the storm taken from teh bridge, up through the girders and such like, and most are much better than mine technically – but I needed something iconic, something with the whole bridge in. so it was lucky that the first position I found was the shot I liked best. It was shot at f10 1/20 wide open at 24mm with very little done in Photoshop, save from a bit of sharpening and darkening the blacks to get some kind of clarity in amongst all that dust!
So there you have it. A days work that was done before breakfast, and some nice cheques from the usage! One of my enduring memories from the Land of Oz. The place I call home.
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