THE CAMERA CLUB OF SYDNEY
Before the Valley Goes...
JAMES HOEY
The Australasian Photo-Review - Page 263FEBRUARY 1949
The Lower Burragorang Valley, situated but some sixty miles from Sydney, is a lovely spot by all concepts, yet it is unhappily destined in a few short years to be sacrificed to mundane needs — a matter of inundation to supplement the city water supply. Therefore, if the opportunity occurs, or can be made, visit this delightful valley before it is too late and of course, be sure to go provided with as much negative material as you can conveniently acquire.
The Valley is a regular haunt for many an artist (a fact which in itself proves much) with at least one in permanent residence in an extremely picturesque cottage. Isolated upon an open rise above the river flats, his cottage has been built with nice discrimination towards due enhancement of the setting and has by a most happy combination at the same time achieved an outlook which embraces in generous measure the beauty of the surrounding hills with their multitude of varying moods.
A fortnight spent as the annual family holiday last May — a time when one cannot in all fairness be over - indulgent in photographic pursuits — proved all too short. Considerable time was employed (and very enjoyably, too) in all the usual vacation activities and although the normally sparkling waters of the river, which generally offer so many photographic possibilities, had been changed to a tawny flood by heavy rains, there were many good pictures to be had. Still many more subjects, meriting better lighting conditions, have been memorized in the hope of one’s being fortunate enough to make a future visit.
As always, of course, the keen photographer must make the most of his opportunities and the chances are that the shutter will not be released upon the best pictures should he be content in the early morning to roll over and doze until breakfast time. My advice is — rise when the dawn breaks, brew a cup of coffee, don a pair of heavy shoes, shoulder your camera and accessories in a haversack and set forth to make the most of the best lighting conditions of the day.
As you climb the hills through the heavy ground mist, you will probably become wet to the knees from the dewy grass, but you will see the distant peaks resplendent with that soft color never encountered later in the day. Below, as you wander, you will trace the lines of the fences, overhung here and there by delicately etched shapes of wraith like gums gradually emerging from a back drop of nothingness. Later, you will stand and look in wonderment at an unfolding drama as shafts of sunlight slip over the summit of a nearby hilltop and pierce the mist (like the lances of searchlights) through the half-light of an autumn morning; at the same time you are fumbling feverishly over a hurriedly-estimated camera setting, before the fleeting vision passes. Or you may stroll along the river bank and experience recurring glimpses of the white tails of rabbits scudding across the dew-drenched flats; or see the soft highlights on the ripples in the shallows backed by the dark outlines of rushes and she-oaks; or the shapes of grazing cattle outlined against the rising sun, or perhaps a horse and rider emerging spectre-like through the heavy wall of fog.
Sometimes on these wanderings you may be rewarded with little or nothing photographic, but do not allow yourself to make this an excuse for to-morrow morning’s slothfulness. You may, the next morning, expose a whole film or more, after which you will satisfactorily tramp back with a healthier incentive towards steak and eggs; exuberant though unshaven and wealthy in potential artistic riches.
You may ride or walk a few miles by bridle-track to the picturesque homestead which was the location of many of the “shots” for the production “A Bush Christmas”. Here a delicious Devonshire Tea appears as if by magic and with it permission to explore the property. There are many photographic beckonings; these include a number of appealing trees, but successful pictorial treatment of trees is, however, unhappily difficult because of the obtruding skyline, which cannot well be avoided owing to the fact that you are working in a deep valley.
Though we largely neglect the more central daylight hours (although, even then there are some suitable subjects to be located), many opportunities present themselves in the afternoon — the silhouettes of trees against wisps of cloud in the roseate afterglow; the soft swathes of mist drifting down the valley bottom; the weird lighting effects presaging a coming storm; or the sight of a weary plough-team standing with drooping heads against a distant background of hills splashed with the last gleaming rays of gold.
These picture-invitations you may accept, yet still be aware of a host of possibilities still remaining in this happy valley; the photographic exploitation of which could gainfully occupy a month of pleasurable wandering.
There is, of course, the ever-present danger of one’s being carried away by the attractions of color and again, the “scenery appeal” is often next to impossible to translate onto the negative. My recommendation is to exercise one’s normal repressive instincts, but, at the same time, never fail to attack any subject which appears to reflect some artistic merit, and to suffer somewhat from later disappointment, rather than to err on the side of economy of film.
As mentioned at the outset, in some eight or ten years from now our valley will have disappeared and so the future becomes the responsibility of the photographer and the artist, people who readily respond, with the finest of enthusiasm, to the beauties of the out-of-doors and who have the added advantage of possessing the ability and the means to record those beauties.
General View of the Valley
JAMES HOEY
The Good Earth
JAMES HOEY
Unknown Errand
JAMES HOEY
Rural Impression
JAMES HOEY
Burragorang Morning
JAMES HOEY
Glory of the Morning
JAMES HOEY
THE HOMESTEAD - Burragorang NSW (c. 1900)
A.J. PERIER
Valley of the Wollondilly, Burragorang NSW
J.H. HARVEY (VICTORIA)
Valley of the Wollondilly, Burragorang NSW
J.H. HARVEY (VICTORIA)
Valley of the Wollondilly, Burragorang NSW
J.H. HARVEY (VICTORIA)