Martyn Thompson -"A Photographer Writing": #1 “THE WAVERING CURRENT”
Brooklyn Arts Hotel © Martyn Thompson
I spent last week in seaside Currarong, a beauty tucked off the beaten path on the south coast of NSW. More village than town, a “suburb” perhaps- a word that offers no sense of its picturesque nature -where housing prices have gone through the roof and most of the locals sold out to us holiday makers.The cute shops are gone and the fresh veggie garden too but the Arts and Craft store survives with its multicolored tea cosies and toilet roll covers: handmade by a wonderful gaggle of lady knitters stationed round the communal table in the back. My sisters and I have met here every January for the past decade; honoring the community that is family.
Summer Shadows © Martyn Thompson
Arts and Crafts © Martyn Thompson
In the dusky evening light we are having dinner on the deck and my niece eyes a fin in the water by the jetty; a good 150 yards away.We venture down to sight an 8 foot grey nurse shark, right up in the shallows where you’d think it too big to swim- but it can and does.It’s the jetty that the fisherman use so there’s often the gutted remains of their catch on the rocks. My sister, Philippa, starts throwing these into the water to feed this creature.Keeping it within view somehow feels safe. Then the light fades and the water becomes murky… rather more unsettling…
Sunrise © Martyn Thompson
It is my birthday — I’m lounging on my bed in the Brooklyn Arts Hotel in Melbourne.It’s a real B and B with totally fab, big, old rooms—boho style— a bit like the old pension in Italy I remember from my early 20’s. It's really hot and my gift to myself is to do as little as possible…
Currarong © Martyn Thompson
