A purple dawn

Another year arrived, and I suddenly found myself shooting 120 film, and bulk rolling 35mm. I determined that it was an unconscious sign, like the purple dawn greeting me on the Myall River, and that I needed to return to 52rolls once more.

Seasons come and go, years drift by, but our political fate seems remarkably out of step with the changes signified by the world: hotter than normal nights and summers, rising sea levels, glaciers retreating, and storm tides reaching heights that have been unknown before.

Perhaps the current political climate is the last gasp of destructive forces, divisive ideologies, repressive religions and environmentally unsustainable capitalist enterprises, that are all deeply out of step with the spirit of the modern world. Taking photographs always gives me hope, particularly when the magic revealed in the salts, are symbolically in tune with the many millions of women (and men) not only marching but speaking out against fear, hate, intolerance and misogyny.

Photography enlightens our shared world, and can ferry us like argonauts, with hope across time from this purple dawn to the defeat once again of tyranny and monsters among men.

Myall River dawn

Purple dawn

The old ferry

Argonauts

Golden light

All photos taken with a Chamonix 045F1 View Camera and Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S 150mm lens, on Fuji Reala using a 6×9 roll film holder, which was developed in the Unicolor C41 Kit