Money for sh*t…

It’s been an unusual week for stock photo sales. A couple of years ago I wrote about wintering with wombats. One of the photographs I took on that field trip was of the curiously cubic crap of the wombat. The shape, it seems, serves the purpose of preventing the wombat’s droppings from rolling away as it marks out its territory.

Currently Alamy has over 30,000,000 pictures. Do a keyword search for wombat droppings and you’ll get just three pictures. All mine! All mine! My own little niche market. You might be surprised (as I was) to find that this week a publisher in the United States paid $500 to use this picture. OK, now don’t all rush out and start shooting wombat shit. For most of you, it’s going to be almost as hard to find as that proverbial rarity, rocking horse sh*t…and with this sale, I imagine I’ve probably filled all the requests there’s likely to be for this particular subject.

Money for sh*t. This picture of the curiously rhomboid shaped wombat droppings sold again this week.© Rob Walls 2011

The other unusual picture sale this week, was of this poignant memorial which was erected in the outback New South Wales town of Broken Hill almost 100 years ago.

Monument in Broken Hill, New South Wales, to the bandsmen of the RMS Titanic who went down with the ship off Newfoundland on 15th April, 1912 © Rob Walls 2011

A moving memorial to the musicians of the RMS Titanic in the Australian outback mining town of Broken Hill. This picture was licensed for use in an audio-visual in Ireland.

Now, just in case you can’t avoid the temptation, I’ll warn you in advance; comments that refer to me as a “sh*t photographer” are unlikely to be published:-)

Uluru – in three Polaroids

Uluru in three Polaroid prints, 1980 © Rob Walls 1980

Mining the old Polaroid print archive, I came across this series I shot of Uluru in Central Australia, 32 years ago….

MONA visited, revisited, revisited and revisited…

Despite the howls of protest and criticism from more conservative professional museum curators, they cannot put down the overwhelming success of David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart. Walsh himself, has described it as “a subversive adult Disneyland”.

It is not without controversy, attracting such negative comments in TheMercury  as “You sick bastards. That place better be shut down soon. What is the world coming to? What will the next generation of children turn out like after viewing such revolting, hellish ‘art’. They’ll be torturing mutilating murderers.”

“Mr Walsh has made a very big mistake in setting up this thing in Berridale. It’s going to become the biggest white elephant ever in Tasmania. I see it as an extension of the sewerage treatment plant that’s situated right next door to the “museaum”. Both facilities are full of excriment that should be flushed away. It’s a joke people. A joke.”

On the other hand, there are many who actually get David Walsh’s vision and are rewarded and stimulated by it: “WOW, regardless if you love it or hate it, you have to agree this will put Hobart on the map of Australia for the world to see. It is probably the biggest push the city has ever had to come into this century and compete with the bigger cities around the world. Its private, yet free. What a selfless visionary Walsh must be. I wish I still lived in Hobart to see this gem. This “museum” might go a long way to help Hobart lose its “redneck” image to the rest of Australia. Congrats Walsh.”

Since its opening last January, more than 350,000 visitors have passed through its dramatic reflective portals. Last week, I made my fourth visit and again drew deep satisfaction, enjoyment and visual stimulation from being challenged by MONA. Here are some pictures from my last two visits:

The Museum of Old and New Art as seen from the Derwent River © Rob Walls 2011

Visitors to MONA reflected in the mirrored wall of the main entrance © Rob Walls 2011

Bit.Fall by Julius Popp

White Library by Wilfredo Prieto, a library of blank books, blank pages

A visitor viewing Philip Brophy's interactive Body Malleable

China-China - Bust 82 2004 by Ah Xian

Sidney Nolan's massive and magnificent, Snake

Artifact by Gregory Barsamian

After three hours of visual stimulation even the tools and ladder of the exhibition installers begins to look like an installation © Rob Walls 2011

More visits planned in coming months…

A marvellous Melbourne Sunday…

Sunday, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy © Rob Walls 2011

Kat Macaulay, bartender at The Gypsy Bar, Fitzroy © Rob Walls 2011

His first protest; Climate Action rally, Melbourne June 5 2011 © Rob Walls 2011

Exuberance personified at the Climate Action rally in Melbourne © Rob Walls 2001

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy © Rob Walls 2011

 

Postcards – travelling West to East…Part two

Abandoned farm kitchen in the West Australian wheat belt © Rob Walls 2011

Salt mine at Lake Deborah, Western Australia © Rob Walls 2011

Truck driving sunrise, Nullarbor Roadhouse June 1, 2011 © Rob Walls 2011

Roadside shrine, Nullarbor Plain © Rob Walls 2011

My last campsite for this trip © Rob Walls 2011

Did it never occur to the signwriter, why "Shielas" required a grocer's apostrophe and "Blokes" not? Toilets at the Iron Knob Motel © Rob Walls 2011

Hitman? Probably a lucrative sideline for the butcher at Crystal Brook, SA © Rob Walls 2011

This puzzled me for nearly 1,000km. When I got to where I could get a broadband signal I looked it up. Means creeping over the speed limit © Rob Walls 2011

Racing my shadow home © Rob Walls 2011

PART ONE here

EAST TO WEST ON HIGHWAY ONE

EAST TO WEST Part tw0

Some postcards from Kal’…

Have been less than 48 hours in the vibrant gold mining city of Kalgoorlie and already have pictures to post:

It takes an hour for these giant ore trucks to drive from the bottom to the top of the Superpit at Kalgoorlie © Rob Walls 2011

A family watching work below in the Superpit © Rob Walls 2011

Kalgoorlie is famous for the pubs of Hannan Street. The Exchange Hotel in the late afternoon light © Rob Walls 2011

Bar staff at The Exchange © Rob Walls 2011

The Palace Hotel has a constant update on the gold price on its facade © Rob Walls 2011

The top end of Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie © Rob Walls 2011

The facade of the Questa Casa bordello in Hay Street © Rob Walls 2011

No longer quite the rip-roaring town it used to be, a resident takes his dogs for a quiet walk on Hannan Street at sunset. I did note though, that they were a matched pair of Dobermann. © Rob Walls 2011

Postcards – travelling West to East…(Part one)

A kitchen hand takes a smoke break outside Gino's in Fremantle © Rob Walls 2011

I thanked the owner of this 1978 Mustang for providing this visual treat © Rob Walls 2011

High risk activity © Rob Walls 2011

Wave Rock. One stock shot I can claim is model released © Rob Walls 2011

Life is stranger than fiction in Corrigin © Rob Walls 2011

They love their dogs out Corrigin way © Rob Walls 2011

Taking the high ground…

What do you do when signs like this condemn you to staying in heavy metal suburbia? Acres and rows of caravans, SUVs, Winnebagos and mobile homes?

© Rob Walls 2011

I’m getting the impression that every morning in Australia entire tribes of grey nomads uproot themselves and move off in a clockwise direction around Australia, like those great swirling schools of fish that are rounded up by dolphins. Millions upon millions of dollars, entire cities on the move each day.

The night before last, I complied for a single night for $45 for a “powered site”; a place to pitch my swag, park my truck and charge my computer, take a shower and walk 150 metres every time I wanted to take a piss. Faced with those kind of options, there is only one choice for me, become an outlaw.

Suburbia on wheels © Rob Walls 2011

In Exmouth, Western Australia, the tourist guide books recommended watching the sunrise falling on the ridges at Shothole Canyon in the Cape Range National Park. After doing a recce during the day, I calculated both sunset and sunrise would be good,. But risking driving in the dark over several miles of rough gravel road regularly crossed by kangaroos and stray livestock seemed a logical justification for ignoring the law. So, I found myself a well-concealed little campsite, well off the road, a few hundred metres from the canyon and pitched my swag to wait for the light.

My campsite at sundown © Rob Walls

I know which of these two campsites will linger in my memory.

Taking the high ground in Cape Range National Park © Rob Walls 2011

Late afternoon sky Shothole Canyon, Cape Range National Park, Western Australia from my elevated ridge © Rob Walls 2011

The brightest stars of the Southern Cross linger in the morning sky above my campsite as the sun begins to comee over the ridge © Rob Walls 2011

My camp at 6.30am, Cape Range National Park WA © Rob Walls 2011

The morning sun clips the range tops, Cape Range National Park, Western Australia © Rob Walls 2011

The irresistible self-portrait of every solo travelling photographer at sunrise © Rob Walls 2011

I could write a lengthy diatribe about loss of freedom, the shrinking of our horizons, the nanny state, but if I did, I’d have to admit that part of the enjoyment is in defying the restrictions that would corral us all in fenced-off, controlled areas where one’s wallet is captive to the conventional.

Visual musing on the Great Northern Highway…

Set off from Perth three days ago. First stop, the Benedictine monastery at New Norcia. Spent two nights camped in the bush, as I covered the 1650 kilometres to the iron-ore exporting town of Port Hedland in the Pilbara. Here is a set of pictures from my exploration of this out-of-the-way part of Australia. For those of you who feel that there are just too many pictures of me, this IS my blog, and it’s my way of keeping in touch with family I miss and haven’t seen in over a month.

Checking in to the New Norcia Hotel connected to the old Spanish mission and Benedictine monastery at New Norcia © Rob Walls 2011

All things to all people. Facade, Mt Magnet © Rob Walls 2011

Some meaty alliteration in Mount Magnet © Rob Walls 2011

My camp about 30 km north of Meekatharra © Rob Walls 2011

I guess in a landscape where is the custom to shoot-up roadsigns, this might be considered an intelligent diversionary tactic © Rob Walls 2011

Crossing the Tropic of Capricorn © Rob Walls 2011

Visual poem from the Auski roadhouse in the Pilbara © Rob Walls 2011

More postcards from Highway One…

The claim that this is the last shop for 1000km is probably true but you can buy provisions at a number of roadhouses across the 1200km of the Nullarbor. General store, Penong, Nullarabor Plain © Rob Walls 2011

Several stretches of the highway are widened to allow the Royal Flying Doctor Service air ambulances to use the road as an airstrip. © Rob Walls 2011

A salt pan near Fowlers Bay. I harvested some of this sea salt and used it in my camp cooking. © Rob Walls 2011

I just couldn't get over the jaw dropping distances you can see as you are driving. © Rob Walls 2011

A refrigerator doing sterling service as a mailbox © Rob Walls 2011

A more conventional oil drum mail box near Jerramungup, WA © Rob Walls 2011

A sheep farmer's warning to dingoes, Western Australia © Rob Walls 2011