In 1984, my photography was mostly about our new baby daughter. Rachel grew and changed; she had her first birthday, learned to walk and started to talk. There are plenty of baby photos among the slides taken during her first 12 or 18 months, but this one stands out: three pairs of shoes drying by the tile fire. I like that I was able to see the photographic possibilities in this little scene. It is satisfying to tell a story about people in a photo that has no people in it.
I have plenty of the usual photos, of course. There’s Rachel with the grandparents, Rachel with the cousins, Rachel with the whole family at her first birthday. I dutifully took the photo of Rachel with her great-grandmother, because, well, she’s 78 now, who knows how much longer she will be with us. The answer turned out to be another twenty years, but there’s no knowing at the time.
Late in 1984, we moved away from the little cottage where Rachel was born and finally made it to the south coast, which had been drawing us for years. We moved to Albany and I started work at the local newspaper. I was a journalist, sent out to cover the courts, police and emergency services.
I worked closely at times with the paper’s photographer but I did not feel particularly inclined to become a newspaper photographer. For me, photography was an occasional interest that I pursued after hours for personal pleasure. I feared that it would become too routine and hollowed out by obligation if I made it my career. I have met professional photographers who never take photos for fun. In subsequent years, however, I mixed photography and work at times without losing my enjoyment of my craft.
Albany was visually enticing. This photo is the view from the house we rented on the east side of the town centre. It was cheap rent, but it came with a great view. However, like many – probably most – camera owners of the time, I did not whip out the camera any evening there was a colourful sunset. The cost of colour film and my own frugal habits meant that this sort of shot was a rarity. Most of the time, my camera was used to record significant family moments and trips to unusual places. These days, the photo world is awash with sunsets, not to mention plates of food.
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