Inside Australia

I had the pleasure of photographing in the Eastern Goldfield’s of Western Australia a few weeks ago. Travelled to Lake Ballard near the town of Menzies, specifically to see first hand the remarkable sculptural installation by British artist Anthony Gormley. Titled ‘Inside Australia’ and consisting of 51 figurines spread out across the vastness of the salt lake, it’s an experiential work that compels the visitor to head out on to the salt flat and explore the figures. On the silvery-red flat pan, they drawn you further and further toward the horizon. A strangely hypnotic experience, all the more fascinating because of the silent beauty of the desolate landscape. Camping out at the lake’s edge under, lit by a luminous moon in a cloudless sky, I awoke before sunrise to venture out to meet the figurines before the sun’s first rays struck their metallic surfaces. Brilliant, and a lifelong memory in the bag. And what a potential setting for an outback thriller!