Gunn Point
We spent a bit over a year in the Northern Territory, most of it waiting for Cyan to be born. The doctors up there were so much more compassionate than the ones we had met in Sydney. I didn't take as many photographs in that year as I would have liked. I must admit despite having lived in some ridiculously hot places such as Kuwait where one day in the desert near us it peaked at 65 degrees Celsius. It is extra funny as those of you who know me will know how much I despise the heat.
I did enjoy the wet season, particularly with how green it was. The stormy sunsets nightly were invigorating, to say the least. The downside was waiting through the day for the rain to come, the humidity rising. Was ridiculous really. Winter was apparently nicer, but for some reason, I didn't connect with the weather.
We spent an inordinate amount of time in a tent. We would escape to the coast for a weekend or a week away. Gunn Point was one such place that I had my delightful moments with. We returned there a few times as it was a great place to camp with the dog.
Here it is taken with slide film. on the Bronica EC 2 1/4 square camera, that dad gave me for my twenty-first birthday. It was a bit of a beast that camera. The size and weight of a brick. A heavy shutter that really came up and down with a thud, so strong it nearly forced the camera out of your hands and a sound loud enough to scare anyone away. We had one lens, a 80mm which is the standard lens in that format. It was this camera that really started my love affair with square photographs, and holding the camera at my waist. Though at the time I hadn't really stopped to think about the format I was shooting in. I just made whatever I was shooting fit into the frame I had. It is funny how I have changed and returned to this format. If a camera doesn't allow me to shoot square then I am not interested in using it. If I can shoot it at waist level, well, you will have my heart, as long as I can see what I am doing in black and white. I really loved working with slide film. There is this wonderful thing that when you take the photograph it is either right and finished or a mess and probably un-saveable. I miss that with the control digital processing brings. Fred used to say to me, Len, 'choice is a dangerous thing.'
Gunn Point, Howard Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. Photograph and text copyright © Len Metcalf 2018
