My friend and I were preparing for an exhibition at short notice, and we had to meet with the director to see if our work would be suitable. We also knew that we were up against another artist who wanted the space. We decided if we went in with an idea or plan we would seem more organised. It worked, we got the space, yet neither of us had any work ready. We decided on the theme of Solitude and we both had a frantic two months preparing for this exhibition.

I work predominately in black and white and I like to do urban landscapes void of human life. The theme of solitude encouraged me to add a human element. I looked at the paintings of Australian artist Jeffrey Smart (http://www.savill.com.au/html/smart.htm), and loved his composition and the use of urban environments in painting. Although I was working in black and white, I believe my style and composition is similar.

This photograph, Flipper, was taken at Bar Beach in Newcastle. It was Newcastle Show Day (holiday for all schools) so I went to the beach looking for lone figures. Towards the end of roll, almost ready to go home, I saw a boy sitting on a Boogie Board holding a flipper, with wonderful cloud formations behind him. I hid under a rotunda, using a 300mm lens shot his silhouette. I wasn’t that impressed with the photo (always being critical of my own work) it was missing something and it wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the work. My boyfriend told me I should include it as part of the exhibition, he thought the clouds made the image.

So this became the tenth piece I exhibited. The exhibition went well, being the first for me in a new town, and virtually unknown in its’ small, but thriving art scene. The last day of the exhibition arrived, and I was on roster to man the space. It was a cold, wet and windy day, and I expected the numbers to be low. At 4.30pm a couple came in, look around, then stopped at Flipper for a long time. I could only hear murmurs and couldn’t make out what they were saying, they finally came over to me and asked if I was the photographer, I said yes, they then said, “It’s our son.” Numerous emotions ran through me – excitement, worry and happiness. It’s strange coming face to face with your subject matter, or should I say, your subject matter’s parents. The mother said she didn’t want to come, as it was cold, but her husband wanted to have a look, so she was glad she decided to came. They said they’d have to bring their son to have a look, but I was closing the exhibition in an hour and a half, and it was the last day. It made me so happy to see their faces light up, and to make someone happy with a simple photograph. They left, after buying numerous greeting cards of Flipper, and I was on a natural high.

Then 45 minutes later, the father returned with the son. This freaked me out, coming face to face with my subject matter. He seemed older, about 16 (I’d guessed him to be about 12) and his hair was lighter. I began to wonder whether it was the same boy, but he definitely had the same necklace on. This incident made me realise why I take photographs. It’s not to make money and become famous, its about making myself and others happy. I was ready to take the framed photograph off the wall and give it to them. I offered to post them the two other photographs I took on the day of their son, as I guess, some kind of payment. Photographing strangers can sometimes become a difficult and messy business, but this family seemed happy and honoured, and I felt the same.

In this case, it seems the story came after the photograph, but I was glad I included this image in my exhibition. To see the rest of the show, go to: http://au.geocities.com/solitude_exhibition

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