East Arnhem Land
The last few years I have been working to assist in the delivery of Cultural Immersions in regional and remote areas of Australia. These trips usually involve taking around 20 or so high school students to Aboriginal Homelands, where the students have the opportunity to be on country with the Traditional Owners.
Every immersion experience is unique - the mix of teachers, students, leaders and Traditional Owners, the homelands themselves and the time of year all combine to create a rich, colourful experience.
Comfort zones are stretched, understandings deepened and new perspectives taken home. This collection of images is from a trip to Arnhem land in September 2024.
Thanks to the communities of Bulman and it’s outstations, and Red Earth Organisation for the opportunity.
It is a huge privilege to be able to travel to these places. Much gratitude to the Traditional Owners for sharing their culture and country with us.
For more information on Red Earth go to www.redearth.edu.au/immersions
If you enjoy my work, please consider subscribing below to receive future posts. Thanks, Riddy.
Old Coasts
Recently I had the chance to spend some time down the coast, near to where I grew up. Our loose calendar allowed the visit to coincide with a swell or two, and when there weren’t any waves, plenty of time to explore the various coves and inlets.
It was nice to be back south, away from the humidity of the mid-north coast, and to feel the raw power of the Southern ocean again. I love exploring coastlines. You can really get a feel for the energy in a particular piece of ocean by observing the way it interacts with the shoreline. Down here dunes are taller, beaches wider and the vegetation is a little more stunted from the relentless southwest winds. It was also refreshing to spend multiple days at a spot, it offers the chance to venture about at abnormal times of the day.
When was the last time you scrambled around in the dunes under a sky of stars, or watched a day of pumping surf emerge at dawn and fade away at dusk? I need to do more of this.
Thanks for taking the time to check out my work.
Riddy.
Watjan Homelands
Over the last few years, I have accompanied several groups of high school students on cultural immersions to remote Aboriginal homelands in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
The intention behind the immersions is to bring together people from different backgrounds, creating opportunities to share stories and experiences that can lead to growth, connection and understanding.
‘What happened to the stolen generations?’
Being far away from your everyday life, both physically and mentally, allows space for reflection and can be a bit of a reset.
In my experience, travelling to remote areas strips away the familiar. The complexity of modern life becomes simplified, and simple tasks have the time and space to stretch themselves out.
In changing places physically, the ground has been prepared for new ideas to wash over us differently.
Experiences can have a rawness to them, a different feeling supported by the landscapes you are in.
‘What does it mean to care for country?’
Connection to place and country. Shared experiences and stories, opening and re-shaping.
It’s not necessary to be taken way out of your comfort zone to learn or experience these things, but doing so brings you to a place that might not have been reached otherwise.
‘Why do people want to change the date?’
Different Country can speak to us in different ways.
And upon returning to everyday life, these embedded memories continue to influence the way we perceive the world around us.
‘When you speak of ancestors what do you mean?’
Old stories may have shifted, allowing new perspectives rise up.
Having gone on that journey we may be changed, in ever so subtle ways.
‘What do you hope for in the future?’
Thanks to Red Earth Organisation, Joe and family from Watjan Homelands, Daly River region, Northern Territory.
Print Giveaway!
Longer format photo-journals that allow the viewer and images space to be.
A great weekend of waves
A collection of images from a few hours shooting between surfs on what was a great weekend of waves.
Aotearoa // New Zealand
This trip was meant to happen in 2022, just as the world was emerging from lockdowns and borders were beginning to open.
Overpriced tickets were bought to see old friends, and in the attitude of ‘she’ll be right’ some details were overlooked, namely the customs entry requirements.
The flight I had booked was scheduled to land at 8pm, but unless you had a special entry permit (which I didn’t…) the general public couldn’t enter the country until the following day.
So that ticket was lost to an online booking agency, whose overseas call centres had the last say with “I’m sorry sir you must pay the fee” which was the same price as a new ticket :-/
Hence, I didn’t make it across the Tasman until 2023.
These are some images that from that trip.
Autumn Waves
Autumn has to be my favourite time of year on the East Coast of NSW. Swells start to kick in with both the Tasman Sea and Southern Ocean becoming active. Winds remain light and offshore and the days are mild and sunny. This year we were blessed with a couple of consistent runs of swell and decent banks.
Below is a selection of images from the Autumn that was in 2023. Thanks for looking and hope you scored a few!
Something just changed…
‘Nature consuming the human mind’ - Created (by me?) on a computer in less than a minute.
So I had a play around with Mid Journey last week, which for those that don’t know, it’s an image generating artificial intelligence or AI, and the results are pretty astonishing.
I can see why it has a lot of people talking.
For starters, you input a string of text and within a minute it will produce four original images based on that text. You can tweak, upscale and try again, with endless new images appearing on screen.
Choose any style, choose any artist you like and it will create based on those inputs.
My initial thought was, this changes everything.
For all this unleashed creativity, it felt like a creative light had been somewhat dimmed. A big call I know.
No longer is any skill required to produce an incredible image. For years creating a certain styles of images was beyond my reach, because I hadn’t invested the time and energy required to learn certain techniques or programs.
Are we now we entering the age of mass replication and imitation. Will certain styles and techniques lose their impact as they become mass produced. Will we appreciate the things we see a little less?
The main way I’ve always created images is using a camera. It’s a skill and technique I’ve learned over months and years. My photography might not be anything special, but I can appreciate the time and energy that other artists have put into their own style and work. Actual lifetimes spent perfecting their art. Plagiarism? What’s that?
What does this tech do to all the digital creators out there? Do they fall by the wayside? Lose their jobs?
A niche they occupied may no longer exist. For those that work with the tech, using it to further push the limits of their creativity, the limits to what is possible are about to be blown away. Adapt or die (or fall by the wayside).
No doubt new niches will be created. They might not resemble anything we’re familiar with today.
It is incredibly fun. In a pokie machine addictive sense. The randomness of the output and the limitless possibilities of letting your mind run wild and create is something else. It’s new, and I can see how quickly adoption will occur once it becomes easier to access through mainstream channels (currently it’s only available in discord).
It’s weird. The technique you need to learn is how to communicate clearly with the algorithm. There’s loads of threads on reddit and discord on how to achieve a certain technique. If you are aiming to achieve a certain style or look, you need to find the prompt that will produce that. That’s how you become an ‘artist’.
Input > Output (right image created in seconds by Moi! and my super intelligent assistant)
One thing it does make you do is look into certain styles of art more to try and find the distinct look you’re going for. A different way of imagining. It’s not perfect, a lot of the images still have a certain look to them. Text and hand detail aren’t quite there yet. But this is the tip of the iceberg with what’s to come. Text to video, GPT4, etc, etc… This technology is increasing at an exponential pace, no one knows where it will be in one, five, ten years time.
Things feel like they’re about to get real weird, real fast.
On the level of expressing an idea, it is expansive.
If there’s a theme or idea I’m trying to communicate, the AI can help with that.
The images produced by the prompts here probably all look similar in the sense that they’re exploring themes of nature, the human mind, technology and birds.
For a nature and landscape photographer, there’s no denying it feels strange to use. You’re still working with a medium, but the medium is completely digital. The creative flow remains in the digital space. No more going out into nature with a camera.
And that’s the one thing that is missing for me. The creative process and everything involved in it. The first thing I did after playing around with Mid Journey was get up early for sunrise and take photos, purely for the enjoyment.
Maybe, and I think this will be the case for me, there will be a premium placed on work that is created by a human.
An original painting, a live musical performance. The seed that makes something human - imperfect, real, felt, seen and touched - analog, biological - still currently retains a distinct feel to it. For how long that lasts, who knows.
The roll out of AI will bring a lot of things into question - what is art? what is nature? what does it mean to be human?
Where does this all end?
If you create purely to create, for the enjoyment of the creative act, AI might be another tool to explore. It can be used to compliment your expression. I don’t see it as good or bad, but is is different. You can choose to ignore it, and it probably won’t affect you at all. Maybe your current workflow will seem inefficient in the future.
I’ve barely skimmed the surface here with what is possible, these AI images were all created in a couple of days of learning the process and playing around. I’ve seen results where you can’t tell whether it’s a photograph or a generated image.
An actual image I took, not generated by AI. Or is it….
Maybe, like it was for me, the tech might be a positive catalyst to reconnect with nature.
As this comment on a reddit post put it:
“Bingo. People are already waking up to the fact that they need to spend more time feeling their bodies and getting out into nature. This will just accelerate that process.” - earth_worx
Roots
To be truly Radicle…
Put roots down.
Like a strong tree, be fully grounded in the place where you are and with the others around you. Be someone others can rely on and who is aware of and contributing to the world around them
Know your roots.
Every plant began as the seed of another. Knowing where we have come from helps us to understand our present and imagine our future
Have strong roots.
Don’t be blown around by the winds of fashion or confusion. After a drought or fire, a tree with strong roots can revitalise. Even on the most inhospitable ground, a plant can survive if it knows what it really needs and what it doesn’t.
Have healthy roots.
A plant with good roots can survive anything, but nothing kills a plant quicker than root disease. Remember that whats unseen is always more important than what’s on display
Connect your roots to others.
Every plant grows as part of an ecosystem. Roots connect to mycelium in the soil to get the nutrients they need. No one exists in isolation, our lives intrinsically affect and are affected by others
Have roots that give as well as take.
At the same time as roots take on nutrients, they are holding the soil beneath them together. As they draw moisture from the soil, they transpire it into the sky to create rain. As they take carbon dioxide from the air, they put out oxygen for others to breathe. Benefiting yourself and benefiting others are not mutually exclusive.
And when something’s not working, when the system’s broken?
You’ve got to pull it up by the roots.
Images:
Curtain Fig, Curtain Fig National Park - Djabugay Country, North Queensland
Mangrove, Daintree National Park - Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country, North Queensland
River Red Gum, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park - Latji Latji Country, Victoria
Mangroves, Cape Tribulation - Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country, North Queensland
Interlocking roots, Cradle mountain - Lake St. Clair National Park - Palawa Country, Tasmania
Branches, Mossman - Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country, North Queensland
Uprooted gum, Errinundra National Park - Bidwell, Yuin, Gunnaikurnai and Monero (Ngarigo) Country, Victoria
‘To be truly radicle’ - by Andy Paine, photographed at Camp Binbee, 2019
The Living Sea of Waking Dreams
‘The Living Sea of Waking Dreams’ - a novel by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan tells the story of a dying mother, her children denying her a dignified death, a world of technological distraction and avoidance, where bushfires rage the East Coast of Australia and things, real things mysteriously disappear - ears, knees, arms, eyes - while no one seems to notice, or care.
It’s a confusing, unsettling read. I began reading this book while sailing down to Tasmania, and happened to meet Richard Flanagan at a community meeting in Hobart Town Hall discussing the devastating impacts of commercial Salmon Farms on the waterways around Tasmania. A story - an actual, visible, measurable ‘conspiracy’ of industry and government chasing profit at the expense of the local environment and its communities. More on that another time.
As he signed the book for me he mentioned that it was partly written in response to what he witnessed happening to the environment in southern Tasmania as the industry expanded.
These are a selection of images I took over the last couple of months whilst down in the South East of Tasmania, plus a few others that came to mind when reading the book,
Richard
‘No one took any notice. No one looked up. All were staring at their phones. It was as though the signal was weak but if they could just find the hole in the sky where one bar might be had everything would be ok, as if just out there, about to be delivered, was the message they were all waiting for.’
‘She would scroll the country would burn she would watch a video shot by firefighters inside a fire truck swallowed by fire try to escape tunnelling through a phone screen of pure flame, flame moving like water giant rolling and breaking waves of fire, firefighters dead, a politician in board shorts holidaying in Hawaii, arms around people drinking tossing a shaka, hanging loose…’
‘There was no mention of vanishings’
‘Of course, people still talked, but, in some fundamental way Anna didn’t understand, they weren’t strictly conversations at all…
…but non-conversations in which each person talked ever more insistently to avoid the possibility of a conversation ever happening’
‘She checked WhatsApp she checked Insta. A charred rainbow lorikeet halted her scrolling’
‘How could it be? thought Anna. That was the mystery: they knew and they knew and they did nothing. They could not talk about it and what they talked about was a way of not talking about anything at all with the confidence it actually mattered’
‘And in these small put downs of her own life it was possible to sense an aching regret so vast it was not possible to imagine it could be lived with and survived’
‘The frames that held conversation - time, logic, grammar - were all collapsing’
‘Nowhere could Anna see evidence of a world wanting to take the matter seriously. Perhaps the more the essential world vanished the more people needed to fixate on the inessential world’
‘But it seemed to her at times that not only were young people not seeing but perhaps - and it was this that struck her as more frightening than anything - they did not want to see.’
‘The more things changed the harder people stared into their screens, living elsewhere, the real world now no more than the simulacrum of the screen world, their real lives the shadow of their online lives’
‘For so long they had been searching, liking, friending, and commenting, emojiing and cancelling, unfriending and swiping and scrolling again, thinking they were no more than writing and rewriting their own worlds, while, all the time - sensation by sensation, emotion by emotion, thought by thought, fear on fear, untruth on untruth, feeling by feeling - they were themselves being slowly rewritten into a wholly new kind of human being. How could they have known that they were being erased from the beginning?’
‘It was all done out of love - nothing so cruel was possible to emerge out of hate alone - and such a love could only grow and grow, until it had created this: the most terrifying solitude of suffering’
‘After all, what was pity, if not sorrow grounded in the illusion of power?’
‘And yet all their care and their kindness were for Francie only so much more suffering.
Anna sometimes felt that to inflict such torment on a sentient creature in any other sphere of life would be considered criminally psychopathic and merit heavy punishment
And this invisible crime flourished and was only possible, Anna realised, because of a lie. And that lie was one they - children, doctors, nurses - all encouraged.
The lie was that postponing death was life. That wicked lie had now imprisoned Francie in a solitude more absolute and perfect and terrifying than any prison cell’
‘And, kneeling there, head bowed with the immense universe vibrating in and out and through him, that universe which he understood as him also, Francie’s father would each morning thank God for such beauty that there is in this world.
The idea and the image - they were to Francie one. The insignificance and the immensity. The gift and the gratitude. The power of the man in the world. The power of the world in the man.
Francie never forgot that vision, nor did she ever escape the sense that the world and God and beauty and love could also be hers, if she just fell to her knees and let each fill her. And against the cosmic power of that image the poverty of her childhood was as nothing.’
‘When she was little they went to church and church was a small wooden shed, and the only beautiful thing was the graceful eucalypts outside….’
‘Their smallness was what they were allowed, their smallness was what stunted growth was possible in the ruins and emptiness of the great blank that was their island’s past. And trapped within, and them with it, a great forgetting that was somehow also a great memory if they could just dare open themselves up to it’
‘The church was an empty shed and the beach was an overflowing universe, and there was their true religion, in the dunes and the marram grass and the boobialla groves, in the waves and the rips and the tide, the blinding sun and the gritty washes of sea wind, the late afternoon dazzle of the glazed sand ripples as the ocean receded, the taste of salt, the exultation of bodies diving into the first wave, falling and being lifted, the restorative power of the world’
‘… and the goodness and joy and fecundity of it, the blessing of the sea, never left her’
Words from The ‘Living Sea of Waking Dreams’, by author Richard Flanagan
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-living-sea-of-waking-dreams-9781760899943
Images by Richard Lawless
Invasion Day Rally 2021 - Naarm (Melbourne)
What does reconciliation look like?
Police on roofs, filming the crowd
Lidia Thorpe speaks. The children are watching.
Gary Foley. The civil rights movement in the US and South Africa was harnessed in the 60’s & 70’s to bring awareness to racism and injustice on home turf in Australia.
06.06.2020 = 432 21.01.2021 = 434
Last time I saw this many police was when the Djab Wurrung camp was taken over and protectors saving sacred Birthing Trees from a highway duplication were arrested.
East Gippsland - After the Fires
These photos were taken in and around Errinundra National Park in East Gippsland, in late October 2020. A huge complex of fires burnt over 320,000 hectares in the surrounding area for 91 days in late 2019/early 2020, nine or ten months before these photos were taken.
Errinundra is located in Far East Gippsland, Victoria
For reference, this was the route we took through the park. I haven’t been into the southern end, or near Goolengook.
Pre-fires, Nov 2019
This picture and the one above were taken in November 2019 just as the fire season was beginning on the east coast. I passed through the area with dad before the fires hit, and was interested/hesitant to see what the area now looked like and what remained. Below are images from the same area of the park in Oct 2020.
Some of the wetter areas of this region seem to be recovering ok. Tree canopies and trunks relatively intact. Ferns burnt with new fronds growing. Looks like the fire wasn’t too intense/burnt cooler. This was on the western side of the park, near The Gap scenic reserve I think.
I think these images were on the eastern side of the park, closer to Ada river camping area. Wetter area and what looks to be a cooler burn.
Old Growth Walk
There’s an amazing walk through old growth forest in the middle / eastern side of the park. Thankfully this area was untouched by the fires. These giant Errinundra shining gums are estimated to be over 600 years old.
The photos below were taken on the eastern edge of the park where areas of forest (National park?) border with logging coupes. This area was more patchy. Some hillsides and gullies are untouched while a couple hundred metres away fire seems to have ripped through.
Wet gully burnt out
Some areas looked to have burned pretty hot. These areas may have previously been logged (?) and are adjacent to coupes that have more recently been logged.
Some areas are intact like this. You can see how wet some areas, particularly the gullies, usually are.
Unburnt / burnt
Wet, unburnt area
This drone shot shows how patchy it is. Some of the wet gullies appear unburnt, more open areas burnt. The hillside in the middle you can see has been logged relatively recently, and was burnt.
Some wetter gullies look like this. There was still birdlife, the campsite at Ada river was noisy with lots of birds.
While just up the road it looks like this.
Regrowth, stressed but alive? I wonder what these will look like in a couple of years if no more fires come through
Ocean view lookout on the southern edge. This area was pretty devastated. The trees didn’t have the green shoots like the ones above which were facing east
Coming out of the southern edge of the park into farmland near Club Terrace. Bush behind had all been burnt
Tamboon Inlet
We continued south of Cann River into Croajingolong National Park near Tamboon Inlet. This area was pretty torched. There weren’t many birds or signs of life. I briefly stopped to take these pics and it smelt like rotting flesh
Cape Conran
Cape Conran is a little further east along the coast. Torched with not much signs of birds or wildlife.
I remember driving in here and usually it’s thick, shady bush that you can’t see through.
Beach at Salmon rocks
East Cape
Salmon Rocks. Waves still the same
There’s many areas that we didn’t see. Thankfully some of the Old Growth is intact, although I have seen other images of Martins Creek where Old Growth rainforest has burnt. We didn’t venture further east in Croajingalong or to Mallacoota. I did go through Snowy River National Park, much of which was surprisingly untouched. Little River Gorge and Mckillops bridge were all good.
It’s pretty hard to see so many beautiful areas destroyed. So much wildlife and birdlife gone. What we don’t see is just how much land in Australia has already been cleared. Huge areas cleared since settlement. Look on Google earth and only patches of green remain, usually the areas that were not suitable or too difficult for agriculture or grazing. What is left is precious, especially the Old Growth.
Be sure to check out Goongerah Environmental Centre (GECO) who are campaigning to protect these forests, much of which continues to be logged. And I highly recommend getting up to these areas and seeing them for yourself if you have the chance. Thanks also to my sis for coming along,
Thanks for taking the time to look,
Richard
*Also below is a link to a gallery of images from Errinundra I shared earlier this year, taken pre fires
The Lost Words - Blessing
In a widely used children’s dictionary from the UK, a number of everyday nature words - “acorn”, “kingfisher” and “wren” - were being removed as the words were not being used enough by children to warrant inclusion.
In response and protest to this removal, artist Jackie Morris and poet Robert Macfarlane created a children’s book ‘The Lost Words’. - a book of spells that seeks to conjure back the near-lost magic and strangeness of the nature that surrounds us. “We’ve got more than 50% of species in decline. And names, good names, well used can help us see and they help us care. We find it hard to love what we cannot give a name to. And what we do not love we will not save.”
Accompanying the book is a musical album ‘Spell Songs’. A friend shared this song a few weeks back. I was out on my boat on the Gippsland Lakes watching as both the fear and the virus were rapidly spreading around the world. Not far away bushfires had ravaged the land a few months before. So much devastation and suffering yet still surrounded by so much beauty.
This video was made to share some of that, some of the incredible birds and wildlife that we share this land with. Who deserve acknowledgment, respect and a voice.
It was made because the world as we know it is crumbling before us, and what really matters is becoming easier to see. And because something in the song inspired me, and that was reason enough.
Black Lives Matter Rally - Naarm (Melbourne)
Systemic abuse of Black people isn’t just an issue in the USA. Australia was founded on it and the abuse continues today. Since 1991, 432 Indigenous people have died in police custody. Indigenous Australians are the most incarcerated people on earth - they make up 2% of the Australian population but 28% of the adult prison population.
As non indigenous Australians it is our responsibility to listen, educate ourselves and others, and dismantle the systemic oppression, racism and the continuing injustices against the Aboriginal people of this land. The issues are deep and widespread, not clear to see for those not experiencing the suffering; and often painful to look at as it takes an admission of ignorance and complicity.
All images shot by me.
Bells and Winkipop - 22nd May 2020
Friday 22nd May, Bells and Winki were solid with a bit of an early wobble, 14 second swell period with the size dropping and remaining clean all day. I shot photos for an hour or so early before heading out. Last sequence below is of me doing what I do best and going over the falls at Winki, thanks Steve Ryan for those shots.
Unknown, this guy caught a few solid ones
Plenty of wash throughs
Winki
Briggsy on a good one early
Me practicing my swan dive. Cheers Steve Ryan https://tinyurl.com/y9wag8z3
Pitch Music & Arts 2020
Pitch is a 4-day Music and Arts festival held at the foot of the Grampians.
By music - it’s Techno - thumping, intricate, layered, melodic, primal, vibrating techno - there’s so many sub-genres within Electronic music that it can be confusing as to what rhythms and patterns are called what - Techno, House, Tech House, Acid, Industrial, Disco, Hardcore, Minimal. Anyway, there’s always a solid lineup.
The property and the surrounding area is home to some giant, ancient Gum trees. Just down the road the Djab Wurrung Traditional Owners are fighting to protect a number of sacred trees from being bulldozed to make way for a new highway.
Read more here: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2019/08/22/no-trees-no-treaty-protesters-continue-amass-djab-wurrung-site
For ways to support and keep up to date, check out the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Dwembassy/
One of the main reasons I’ve kept coming back is to wander amongst them for a few days…
A sign of the times
I wasn’t sure whether or not to throw my two cents in, but the scene is definitely an outlet for exploration and expression which obviously comes with it’s challenges and dangers. A great opportunity to practice respect for oneself, each other and the land we dance upon. Boundaries of experience will be pushed and telling younger generations to ‘Just say no’ only demonstrates the divide in understanding between. Education is key, as is individual responsibility. Organisers, police, medical staff and DanceWize all do an excellent job.
Every time I go past this wall in Northcote, Melbourne, I’m reminded of a quote by Alan Watts…
“Psychedelic experience is only a glimpse of genuine mystical insight, but a glimpse which can be matured and deepened by the various ways of meditation in which drugs are no longer necessary or useful…”
“When you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope; he goes away and works on what he has seen.”
- Alan Watts, The Joyous Cosmology
“It’s bound to happen, if you stretch the intellect past a certain point you will crack up, you will definitely crack up” - Sadhguru on the Power of Thoughts
Street art photo taken in Berlin
And when it all gets a bit much, one can always go and sit with the giant old Gums, watching over the land for generations, holding deep connections to the past.
I find it curious, and rather telling, watching crowds of people walking by these trees, barely giving them any notice, except maybe when they take a pee on them. The age, the size, the weight. The birds that live in them. All of them distinct and unique.
To create a society, and an economic system, where these living beings and their ecosystems are valued equal to a human life. What would that look like…? Where their growth, nurturing and protection are of the highest importance, and in exchange for taking care of these living systems, the people are looked after with all the resources they need for a fulfilling life…
“I seem to be a brief light that flashes but once in all the aeons of time - a rare, complicated and all-too-delicate organism on the fringe of biological evolution, where the wave of life bursts into individual, sparkling and multi-coloured drops that gleam for a moment only to vanish forever.
“Under such conditioning it seems impossible and even absurd to realize that myself does not reside in the drop alone, but in the whole surge of energy which ranges from the galaxies to the nuclear fields in my body.
“At this level of existence, “I” am immeasuurably old; my forms are infinite and their comings and goings are simply the pulses or vibrations of a single and eternal flow of energy.”
- Alan Watts - The taboo against knowing who you are
Blockade Adani II - The power of Nonviolent Direct Action
Below is a collection of images from my first campaign experiences with nonviolent direct action. Words by Rowan Tilly with a link to the quoted video at the end.
“Non-violent direct action, in its entirety, right from the get go when you start to plan it, right through to the very end when you come out of prison… the whole thing is a dialogue”
“There’s dialogue in the planning - your motivations, your fears, your objectives. Then you get arrested - there’s more dialogue in the police station, and between the action and the press, what gets said about it, and it continues through the court.”
“The whole thing takes place as a dialogue and you’re inviting judgment, you’re inviting people to say what they want to say and say what they think about what you’ve done. So that’s a really important part of nonviolent action, to see it as a dialogue.”
“If it is effective, it will have an element of confrontation in it.”
“We tend to associate confrontation with violence, but it doesn’t need to be violent. It’s creating a tension, and that tension allows the dialogue to take place that will effect change.”
A business owner blocks in activists vehicles using his truck
A delivery driver stops by to share his views
“As an example of that tension that we’re trying to create, if you imagine of a musical instrument, if the strings of that instrument are too slack, you won’t get a note out of it. If they’re too tight, it’s unbearable, you can’t hear it it sounds tinny”
“So to make music that tension has to be absolutely right. And it’s the same with non violent direct action, you need to get the tension of the confrontation absolutely right”
“The confrontation feeds into the dialogue and the dialogue feeds into the confrontation”
“The subtle difference between being non violent and not being violent. It’s a subtle thing. Think of being at the bus stop and nobody is talking. That is nobody talking. Think about a buddhist retreat where the people are ‘in silence’ - it’s a different thing, it’s a different quality of silence. The quality of silence has a sense of intention. It’s the same with non-violence, theres a quality to the people sitting on the bridge or whatever they’re doing - the sense of intention is palpable, people pick up on it. There’s a positive thing happening there”
"Why nonviolence? According to research on conflicts between non-state and state actors around the world between 1900 and 2006, it was found that 53% of nonviolent campaigns were successful as opposed to 26% of campaigns that used violence.
Moreover, of the violent campaigns, 95% had descended into dictatorship or totalitarian rule within five years. Basically if you want a chance at effective change against the state, non violence is the way to go.
“Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence: when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.” - Martin Luther King Jr
A brilliant introduction to the theory of nonviolence, from which the words quoted by Rowan Tilly are borrowed
Democracy and nonviolence in action
Engineering contractor GHD is one of the largest contractors for the Adani mine. Recently more than a dozen protests were held outside GHD offices nationwide. Internal accounts and leaked emails suggest the company is in ‘crisis mode’ after employees have put pressure on management questioning their involvement with the mine. Over 60 contractors have pulled back from working with Adani across finance, insurance, engineering/construction and coal haulage. Pressure on contractors works.
Prime minister Scott Morrison pledged to crackdown on ‘selfish and indulgent’ environmental groups. He argued that the ‘secondary boycott’ campaigns such as those targeting Adani’s contractors are a threat to the mining industry and the economy. The Human Rights Law Centre has labelled the Prime Minister’s plan “deeply concerning,” saying the move could weaken protesters' rights. Tension was created, highlighting an issue, from that tension dialogue emerged - both of the viability of the mine and the governments ties to Industry
These are ‘lock-on’ devices. An arm in put in each end then the protestor clips onto a rod through the middle, locking onto machinery or a railway or whatever and immediately preventing operation. To remove them they need to be cut off. They are highly effective, non violent protest devices.
The QLD government recently passed ‘dangerous attachment devices’ law, criminalising the use and possession of the devices. In passing the law the premier cited an unverified incident that occurred 14 years ago where police cited a device had been laced with a butane canister When asked at a public hearing about the incident, the police officer, who is considered an expert on attachment devices, could not confirm nor provide evidence to substantiate the claim.
For more information on the history of these devices and the passing of the law, I recommend reading this insightful article written by Andy Paine.
https://frontlineaction.org/repeat-a-lie-often-enough-lock-on-laws-passed-in-parliament/
And lastly, some reminders of what we’re fighting for
Camp Binbee
Colonisation continues to this day. I’m still learning of the depth and breadth of this destruction. A book I’m yet to read but have been recommended is ‘Decolonising Solidarity’ by Clare Land. http://decolonizingsolidarity.org/book/
It's likely that more than half the world population of southern black-throated finches is found on the Adani lease. "These birds will die if the mine goes ahead, simple as that." - Sean Dooley, Birdlife Australia
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-03/how-is-a-tiny-bird-such-a-big-problem-for-adani/11076386
Horseshoe Bay in Bowen, about 45 mins from the blockade camp
Alligator Creek just south of Townsville
Blue Winged Kookaburra
“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals”
Blockade Adani
About 6 weeks ago I received a call from a close mate who was heading to the Adani blockade in central QLD. My partner and I spent about two weeks at the blockade camp, before taking some time off to explore the Daintree rainforest and northern QLD. Here are some images from that time.
The Adani Carmichael coal mine is the first to gain approval in the Galilee basin. The success of the project will pave the way for the another 6 mines within the basin, with proposals from both Waratah Coal (Clive Palmer) and GVK Hancock (part owned by Gina Reinhart). Picture above shows the current Adani workers camp.
The actual mine site is quite remote, about a 4-5 hour drive from Bowen, or 6 hrs from Airlie beach in the Whitsundays Infographic courtesy ABC Australia
In August this year, the QLD government extinguished native title over 1,385 hectares of Wangan and Jagalingou country without any public announcement of the decision. The decision could see traditional owners forcibly removed by police from their traditional lands. “We have been made trespassers on our own country,” W&J Council leader Adrian Burragubba said
On the way to the Adani site
A feral cat walks away from the Adani workers camp
Red Winged Parrot & Diamond Dove
Security around the site is pretty tight. Here a security guard tries to negotiate with protesters to allow traffic to access the workers camp. He wears a vest with a chest camera recording on the front.
Somewhere along the road into the site, maybe 50-60 km from the actual work site, is a security camera monitoring road traffic. The solar powered camera set up is new. I’m not sure who owns or has installed the cameras, but would have to assume Adani has something to do with it. I wonder what the legalities are of a private Indian company having security cameras on public or government owned land.
I saw two of these set up in different locations along the road
People from all walks of life, of all ages have been travelling to central QLD to oppose the project
More cameras at the workers camp
I’m back at the Blockade now for a few more weeks. For more information and to come join us on the front line, contact Frontline Action on Coal
Newkind 2019
Described as a masterclass for social change, Newkind festival is a 5-day gathering bringing together people from all walks of life with a shared desire to bring about the change we need in these times.
Held at the Marion Bay Falls festival site on the East coast of Tasmania, Newkind is a volunteer run, not for profit event. Run on renewable energy, plant based meals included, zero waste, completely drug and alcohol free.
The programme consists of discussion panels, lectures, workshops and skill development sessions across themes of economics, education, environment, health and arts, with time set aside for morning practices and evening entertainment.
Erfan Daliri, the brainchild behind Newkind. https://erfandaliri.com/
Musk Lorikeet, Glossopsitta concinna. Only found in South Eastern Australia. They eat mainly pollen and nectar from eucalypts using their specialised brush-tipped tongues. Declines in populations have occurred due to the clearance of eucalypts for agriculture, but they benefit from plantings in towns.
Marion Bay, a short walk from the festival site
Hoda Afshar speaks with Behrouz Boochani live from Manus Island detention centre. Behrouz is an Iranian-Kurdish journalist, human rights defender, poet and film producer. He was born in western Iran and has been held on Manus Island since 2013. His memoir, No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, won the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Nonfiction. The book was tapped out on a mobile phone in a series of single messages over time and translated from Persian into English by Omid Tofighian.
There were questions about Boochani’s eligibility for both prizes because entrants had been previously limited to Australian citizens or permanent residents, but he was given an exemption by prize administrators and the judges were unanimous in recognising its literary excellence. Wheeler Centre director Michael Williams said that the judges thought that the story of what’s happening on Manus Island essentially is an Australian story, and that “made it completely consistent with the intention of the awards”.
One of his key messages was the power of individual action through art and free expression - his story is an inspiring and tangible example of this.
https://www.booktopia.com.au/no-friend-but-the-mountains-behrouz-boochani/book/9781760555382.html
Yellow-tail Black Cockatoos, Calyptorhynchus funereus
Shallie Campbell
They be watching over us
Powerful and revolutionary spoken word artist, Anisa Nandaula. https://www.anisanandaula.com/
With the continual inundation of bad news, feelings of powerlessness, depression, pain and anxiety arise all too easily. These are healthy responses to a planet that is suffering, her sense organs are functioning as we feel the messages loud and clear. The anguish we feel is a symptom of our collective experience. The clear-felling of forests hurts like skin being peeled back, the injection of coal seam gas wells like needles puncturing our flesh. The dispossession and injustice around the world shakes our false sense of security in our insulated western existence.
As we awaken to our deep interconnectedness with this planet and each other, change is catalysed both individually and collectively. Sometimes it happens spontaneously where an insight takes us down a different path, sometimes through crisis where we are pushed off the cliff edge.
And in that moment of change lies great potential as we are offered the chance to start fresh. The unknowing and unlearning of everything we thought we knew creates a space where new ways of living arise. I feel humanity as a whole is stepping, or falling into that space now. In these empty spaces we get the chance to call upon our creativity, to find the threads left hanging on, those that bring us joy and take us back to our essence.
Be it creating music or art, working with our hands, raising children, planting food, creating community, taking care of our elderly or sharing our experience. Those actions that bring us joy are the ones that will pull us forward. The ones that will reconnect us and create new systems in the process. We don’t need to understand how, to begin by following our joy is enough. Those actions are our gift through which we give back. They are the healing of both ourselves and our planet.
It was a joy to experience and photograph Newkind 2019. To be alongside others whilst feeling the world’s pain allows us to know we are not alone in this. To hear the stories and actions of others provides inspiration to move forward when the path isn’t clear.
Thank you Erfan for heeding the call, for creating such a potent yet safe space. Thank you to all who attended and contributed in your own unique way, and for continuing to heal, give and create.
In gratitude,
Richard
Seaspray, Victoria
July 2019
Seaspray, on the 90 mile beach
Occasionally there are surfable waves. When there’s swell, there’s 90 miles of banks to choose from
Grazing land back from the beach. Some properties still have intact bushland with beautiful Grandmother Banksias growing on the sandy ridges
Site of the old caravan park, now moved back from the foreshore
Fish and chips and disco lights
Tree portal