In our ongoing series on 'great photo locations' landscape photographer Ken Duncan shares a location closer to home; Central Australia's ethereal and dynamic West MacDonnell Ranges.
I love shooting in Australia more than anything. One of my favourite areas is Central Australia, but not your normal, typical Uluru-type spot. I find those places have now become too political to really enjoy shooting there (Ulurules). I’m taken by the Western MacDonnell Ranges and the people of that area. By building relationships with some of the indigenous communities and helping teach some of the young generation photography, I in turn have been taught a lot by them on how to sense and capture the spirit of their country.
Great images I believe come when we humble ourselves and learn to relate to the local people and the area they live in. This takes time, but if you give this time, then the area will reveal its secrets to you. When I first went through the Western MacDonnell Ranges over 30 years ago I really didn’t find any great shots. I thought “this is nice”, but it didn’t really capture me. It wasn’t until the last 15 years that this area has really come alive to me. You need to put in time finding locations and then more energy walking, but if you’re willing to do that it rewards you and you can just keep getting great photos.
It’s constantly changed over those 15 years. I’ve seen it when it was desolate and I’ve seen it so green they had to mow the sides of the roads from Alice Springs to Uluru! That’s something like 450 kilometres, which is one big mow! To see the rivers and the gorges running out of there is an unbelievable sight. It’s also an amazing area from the air. There are still so many amazing photos to be taken out there, parts that haven’t been seen yet. Go adventuring. I’m trying to now sort for pearls rather than go for the pearl shells. You’ve got to look for something different, for those truly special moments.
