An Australian Journey in Black and White. Images Shane Aurousseau

September 24, 2017 shanea2014 Leave a comment

Annette-2 — Traditional Houses high pitched Roofs for cooling just like the one I grew up in

I have used black and white for strength. I see much of Australia as time warped in the 19th century. Much of the attitude beyond the populated coastal regions is early 20th century to 1945 the 50s and 60s. When I left Australia the first time the population had not yet hit 10 million. Today it borders on 25 million and should continue to grow exponentially. However still most new comers cling to the coastal regions like clinging to the gunnel of a boat. Little effort has been made by successive governments to develop the interior of this vast continent Island for community growth.

The main development has been for short term commercial / profit driven gains. Such objectives have caused the plundering of one of the world’s great commodity reservoirs with little thought for the landscape or its inhabitants. Many will say irrigation is a problem however Australia has one of the great sweet water catchments of the world in the Great Artesian Basin covering in excess of 1/3 of the country.

**Great Artesian Basin of Australia the Largest Artesian Basin in the world**

The country suffers from lack of real communication infrastructure development, railways and roads. There has been too much profiteering by small groups in power that have been too quick to take the vast sums of corporate cash on offer by the multi-nationals that covert the buried riches of Australia. The country is the epitome of the good life for the few a promotion of the 1%. This issue manifests in the lack of of support for the farming communities, wildlife protection and the governments inertia related to fire seasons.

Still many commodity industries are producing as they have for the last 150 years through the blood sweat and tears of hard yakka (yakka Australian for work). As an example Australia produces 1/3 of the world’s wool this wool from the Merino sheep is of the finest micron quality on the globe. Although some of the micron quality ( not all ) has been purposely lowered for more cost effective Chinese manufacturing. Shearing still takes place in the shearing shed on the sheep stations as it has for 150 years. Many commodities are mined in small holdings by sweating miners sometimes working in dangerous conditions, Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, White Cliffs to name a few.

Tradition housing dating to the 1800s

Australia the Outback and Silverton the 1800s ‘ Mad Max’ Country

From the 1800s

The Town — Tradition 1800s town centre similar to USA of same period

Lion of Waterloo Pub Wellington NSW again high pitched roof

Trans Australia Indian Pacific — The Indian Pacific Railway Trans Australia Indian to pacific Oceans

Conversation at the Pub — The prospector

Smoko in the Black Opal Mine — Miner at Smoko

Australia Outback and Lightning Ridge Opals the church

The Miner Cowboy Jimmy — Cowboy Jimmy a Miner

Portrait of a Shearer Yakka as a Business — Face of a Shearer

Checking out the machinery Boy's Toys — The Engine Boys Toys

Clancy's Mate on the Stand — Shearing the Jumbuck

Shearer and Jumbuck-1 — Shearer Jumbuck and Smoke

Shearers in the shed — hard Yakka on the Stand

Shearer and Jumbuck — Shearer Yakka with the Jumbuck

Hard Yakka Shearing — Broomy in the Shed

Hard Yakka at the Table — Broomy and yakka at the Table

Cocky and Sheep Dogs Flea Taxis Kelpies — Cocky and flea Taxis Kelpies

Checking the wool at the Table — At the Table

At the Table — Checking the Wool at the Table

Images by Shane Aurousseau

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An Australian Journey in Black and White. Image Shane Aurousseau

September 24, 2017 shanea2014 Leave a comment

An Australian Journey in Black and White.

Having travelled extensively in the Country of my birth. I felt as a photographer I would like to show a side of Australia that tourists rarely see. The working and gritty side of a commodity driven country.
I have used black and white for strength. I see much of Australia as time warped in the 18th century. Much of the attitude beyond the populated coastal regions is early 20th century to early post 1945 the 50s and 60s.when I left Australia the first time the population had not yet hit 10 million. Today it borders on 25million and should continue to grow exponentially. However still most new comers cling to the coastal regions like clinging to the gunnel of a boat. Little effort has been made by successive goverments to develope the interior of this vast continent Island for community growth. The only development has been to plunder one of the world’s great commodity reservoirs. Many will say irrigation is a problem however Australia has one of the great sweet water catchments of the world in the Artisian Basin covering in excess of 1/3 of the country.
Still many industries are producing as they have for the last 150 years through the blood sweat and tears of hard yakka. As an example Australia produces 1/3 of the world’s wool this wool of the finest micron quality. Shearing still takes place in the shearing shed on the sheep stations as it has for 150 years. Many commodities are mined in small holdings by sweating miners sometimes working in dangerous conditions.
I hope these images will give an idea of the hard yakka and gritty side of survival in the outback.

Australia

Diversity, Intolerance and Misunderstanding. Black and White Images Shane Aurousseau

September 18, 2017 shanea2014 Leave a comment

The above article is a good article and is an indicative parallel to the broader issues of global racism. The issues outlined in the article are issues that Americans should be able to relate to. Australia generally has little tolerance towards the Aboriginal community and yet exploits the historical track for purely commercial reasons. Growing up under the white Australia policy we never mentioned our neighbours and were taught little about one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world. We certainly never went to the same school or sat next to them at a cinema and continually still joke about how ill kept they are and their drinking habits. The issue with many Australian academics is that they are products of history most having grown up under the white Australia policy, we are our fathers. While travelling in the outback I heard a woman shopkeeper say ‘an Aboriginal woman came in here this morning, she was very nice and really polite’. Why wouldn’t she be what was the shopkeeper expecting to be mugged? Australian Academia does not have a silver bullet more like a smoking gun. This country of immigrants still dislikes diversity in most of its forms. The surface practical issues can be cleaned up and like justice seen to be done but the deep rooted psychological issues inherited from our forefathers takes time and is harder to banish.
At sometime whether Aboriginal or European it is necessary to ring-fence but also to look beyond our own cultures.

It could be a parallel for Brexit. We still dislike difference we still distrust diversity without really knowing why an insecurity that Australia and the world must face at sometime if we are to survive as an educated, enlightened species. We must also find ways to not forget but to forgive the past or next we will be prosecuting the descendents of Alexander the Great for his misdemeanors of 323 BC.

The featured image by photographer Shane Aurousseau could be called ‘Which way to Look Now’.

Images Shane Aurousseau

London United Kingdom, Photography

Images of Historic Whitecross Street London the Street the People the Diversity Shane Aurousseau

September 3, 2017 shanea2014 Leave a comment

Whitecross Street is a short street in Islington, in Inner London. It features an eponymous street market and a large housing estate.

In Whitecross street, King Henry V (9 August 1386 – 31 August 1422) was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 36 in 1422. builded one fair House; and founded there a Brotherhood of St. Giles, to be kept. Which House, had sometime been an Hospital of the French Order, by the Name of St. Giles without Cripplegate, in the Reign of Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots King from 1272 to 1307 and William Wallace’s nemesis. The King having the Jurisdiction, and appointing a Custos thereof, for the Precinct of St. Giles, &c. Which Hospital being suppressed, the Lands were given to the Brotherhood, for the relief of the Poor. In this Street was a White cross; and near it was built an Arch of Stone, under which ran a Course of Water down to the Moor, called now Moorfields
The Fortune Playhouse, an early Elizabethan theatre, was built on the street c.1600. John Lambe was killed in 1628 at this theatre. John Lambe 1545 to 13 June 1628 an English astrologer who served George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. He was accused of black magic and rape and stoned to death by a mob. It was closed in 1642 as part of Parliament’s closure of all theatres. A debtor’s prison, Whitecross Street Prison, was built on the street in 1813-15, near Fore Street (which still exists). After the prison’s closure in 1870, the Midland Railway Company built a goods terminus and a booking office for goods and passengers on the site in 1876-77.

The Cripplegate area was heavily damaged during World War II, and when the Barbican Estate and Barbican Centre was constructed after the war, the part of Whitecross Street south of Silk Street was swallowed up by the new construction, and the short section between Silk Street and Chiswell Street/Beech Street became part of Silk Street. St Giles Cripplegate, mentioned by Strype, is now within the Barbican Estate.
Whitecross Street Market, having been in existence for over 150 years, is one of London’s oldest markets. The market was formerly one of London’s great Sunday markets, and dates to the 17th century; although today, trading is largely limited to lunch times. By the end of the 19th century, the area had become a by-word for poverty and alcohol, and it became known as Squalors’ Market.

Today the market consists of stalls arranged along the northern half of the street, between Old Street and Fortune Street, with the road closed to traffic. There is a small general market and a food market of up to 50 food and drink vendors Monday-Friday lunchtime,which can be bustling with activity (and queues) on a sunny lunch time. It has occasional food festivals. In recent times, there has been significant investment from Islington Council, the City of London and English Heritage. It is open Monday–Friday, 10am–2pm.
In the images below I have tried to portray the atmosphere, the people and the lifestyle of Whitecross street today.