Global Snapshots

Gallery: Shortlist Photos

cameron — Fri, 5 Oct 2007 12:54:00 GMT

Gallery: My time at Garma

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 11:24:00 GMT

Photos courtesy Yothu Yindi Foundation/Cameron Herweynen. These photos are to illustrate my journal... but aren't necessarily part of my final set... hopefully, I'll publish those later!

Reflections on Garma and the Scholarship

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:55:00 GMT

Garma was an awesome, life changing experience. It took me a few days to settle in but as challenging as some of it was, when I look back I can see how much I have grown as a person from the experience, and grown in my confidence and ability to get out there in the world and do this kind of work. It has equipped and prepared me for the competitive cut-throat photographic world out there, and for that I'm deeply thankful.

I hope it won't be my only Garma experience, as I miss the love and passion for life the Yolngu possess. I miss their bungul (dancing), manikay (song) and miny’tji (designs). I miss their smiling faces, and gentle nature. I miss their rich use of colour. I miss the red dust. I miss my friends, the community and family of Garma, and long to go back.

I can clearly see the important role Garma plays in preserving Yolngu culture and traditions, enriching their lives and maintaining their identity for now and future generations.

I would like to thank World Nomads and the Yothu Yindi Foundation for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. Thanks to Mark Rogers for your support and advice.

and thank you for reading,
Cameron Herweynen.

Highlights from Day 5

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:54:00 GMT

Day 5 was really just pack up day. Most of the Yolngu clans left earlier in the day. After I realised that nothing much was happening I spent most of my morning getting my things ready as I was leaving that night. I took it pretty easy really. I was pretty exhausted from the last few days, and was happy for a quiet one. In the afternoon I hung around some young children who were eager to have their photo taken and to take their own photos. It was great just to sit and spend time with these children. I was there with my friend John, from France, he’s a top photographer/ videographer taking photos at Garma for his ten month photographic work on Australia, which will be exhibited in France in 2009. He is such a fantastic guy, we had heaps of fun together and lots of laughs. The joke for today was we both had nothing to photograph, and his flight didn’t leave until the following day, “what am I going to do” he asked me.

That night I just assumed there was no dancing because it wasn’t on the program, but there was. The children started the final bungul off, all painted up and in brightly coloured costumes. The boys carried spears and were pretending to throw them for the cameras, I was thinking I hope they don’t really throw this thing! But it was great, for a few moments a golden light made their faces shine, which only lasted for a few minutes, but it was exciting while it lasted. The dancing today was really good because there weren’t so many other media people to clutter things up, it was just me and a few others, most people had left Garma by now.

After the children did their dancing I thought that would be it, and then the other clan groups came to do some dancing. So I stayed and kept taking photos. It was really great because I was the only photographer left shooting, everyone else had gone. I was having a great time, totally in my own world. I knew my bus for the plane was leaving at 7:30pm, and that was ages away so I didn’t need to worry. As the hours passed by I started thinking I should go in about an hour. Then it was announced that the bus for the plane was leaving at 8:30pm. I asked someone, “did he say 8:30?” and she looked at me funny and said “yeah!” I was thinking that’s funny, I though they said it was leaving at 7:30pm. So I just stayed there, taking a few photos, enjoying the dancing, and then my friend Sam sits next to me and says “Where have you been? I have been looking for you everywhere!” She asked if I wanted to go, and I said, “Just a bit longer.” So we sat there for a bit. And by now it was 7:25pm. I was still enjoying the dancing and she said “Don’t you need to go?” I was like “yeah let’s go,” still thinking that my bus ride to the plane was leaving in an hour. And as we were walking to my tent, she asked, “why don’t you rush,” I said “it’s ok, my bus leaves at 8:30pm.” “No!” she said, “it’s 7:30pm!!!!” “WHAT,”I said. I literally had 2 minutes to chuck all my things together, I just picked up everything, I was so stressed out. And because I was stressed I worried that I would accidentally leave something behind. I frantically got my stuff together, jumped out my tent, and power walked about 1km to the bus, I was so stressed out! I thought. “what do I do if I miss the bus?” I must be on that bus, I must be on that plane! I felt so stupid. I rushed to the bus and thankfully it was still there. But I then realised I left my battery charger in the media room, which was locked. I asked someone to open it, and she asked “why did you leave it in there?” I felt like saying you can’t tell me off, I don’t know why I left it in there, I just did, that’s it. So they radioed the key holder to come over and open the room, I nearly died from all the stress. By the time I was actually on the bus I was so relieved, beyond what words can describe.

Highlights from Day 4

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:53:00 GMT

After getting my confidence from photographing the yellow mob the day before, another photographer and myself went out on a mission to find the red flag mob, and hopefully take their photograph, but after walking and walking and getting directions from a young boy we ended up finding nothing, which was really annoying because I was looking forward to taking their photo, but they were nowhere to be found. So instead I went back to my yellow mob friends and was actually there early enough to capture their painting ceremony. They paint their faces with ochre, which is a bright yellow rock that looks absolutely beautiful on their black skin. I found that I got the best images in this time when they’re getting ready before the dancing. Everyone was so relaxed and happy. I was actually asked by one of the ladies to come and take photos of them painting up, but I didn’t understand her and thought she was asking me for a paintbrush. It was only a few seconds later that I realised that she wanted me to sit next to her and take her photo and photos of others getting painted. I felt so honoured to be allowed into the ceremony, and to be allowed to come so close was incredible. It was a powerful experience. Definitely a life experience. I loved every minute of it. Next time I go to Garma I will focus more on this period of time before the dancing because it had such a positive impact on me and helped me in capturing great photos, because I was comfortable with them and they were with me and my camera.

Tonight’s concert was a concert of a lifetime! It's difficult to describe just how awesome it was, but I suppose sadly you’ll never know unless you were sitting there in the red dust with some 2000 other people there. It was definitely a life experience. The night started off with the supporting acts, young Yolngu rock bands, some of whom were playing to their first live audience of this size. There really is some good talent with the young developing rock stars. Definitely the reception some of them got from their Yolngu fans was intense with people screaming and going crazy.

Of the main acts I remember Shirley very well, she’s an indigenous singer from Sydney I think, but her voice is so awesome, so strong, so beautiful it touched my soul and really moved me. At the airport when I saw her I wanted to say just how awesome she was, but I didn’t have the courage. She was amazing.

Another huge highlight to the concert was the band called “Sing Sing,” a group from Papua New Guinea together with a West Papuan who danced like nothing I’ve seen before, he was so good. I really think he could be the best dancer in the world, that’s how good he was. He danced in a little grass skirt and feather hat. He was wearing a g-string, so every time he turned around or shook his bottom all the Yolngu kids started screaming with laughter. They thought it was the funniest thing. Seeing the excitement on the children’s faces every time he turned around was an experience to remember in itself. As I said this guy is such a great dancer, and also fantastic singer. He sung so well, he nearly brought me to tears, because he was singing a love song in his language, and also sung a song about his country, about… even now as I type I’m nearly crying! But he also sung about his country and about all the troubles his people face… powerful stuff. Words can’t describe how good they were. They started with some percussion, and then drumming, with 8 people drumming away, copying the beat set by the main drummer on the drum kit. By the end of it they were drumming so well it felt like Morse code to the soul.

Sing Sing (left), West Papuan dancer and singer (right)

After Sing Sing, we waited a while for the next main act. At 12:30am Yothu Yindi came to the stage, and everyone was full of excitement rushing to the front of the stage to get the best view. I ran with them because I wanted to be in a good position for taking photos. But because the stage is on a mound of dirt people ran right up onto the mound (myself included for the photography), but none could see much from behind them. Security tried to push people back, it worked a little, but what could they do.

Even though it was a late start for the main act, it was well worth the wait. I love Yothu Yindi. I was so excited to be there, and to see them live in the flesh. Apparently the lead singer, Mandawuy Yunupingu, is very ill, which explains why he couldn’t move around too much, and had his eyes closed for most of the time. He did very well considering, his voice was as perfect as it ever was. I was later told that this maybe his last public performance, which made me realise how blessed I was to be at this concert. The Yothu Yindi dancers were so great, the whole band were awesome. The atmosphere was like nothing else. The bright stage lights lit the band members perfectly, with the red dust rising into the night sky, small fires were burning all over keeping the Yolngu audience warm, everyone including all the children were dancing in the dust, totally free, so filled with joy, living in the moment, I was loving it. Definitely a concert of a lifetime.

Highlights from Day 3

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:52:00 GMT

The yellow mob, the Yunupingu family (the royal family equivalent of Garma) were one of the highlights from my time at Garma. It’s a bit strange to say one family was a highlight, because all the clan groups and their dancing were a highlight. I suppose with the yellow mob, it was a special experience photographing them before the bungul because I knew of the significance it was to them and felt more of a connection with them compared to the other groups who I hadn’t photographed so closely. Today was the first day where I had the courage to go out and visit the yellow mob in their camp on my own before the bungul. The Yolngu people love their own space and each clan camp in their own area away from the visitors who camp together. Because the bungul and the preparation before hand is such a spiritual experience for them, you have to be ultra sensitive when photographing so you don’t do anything culturally insensitive or offend them in any way. After all I’m on their land.

This time in particular is a highlight because it was the first time the children really opened up to me, and I opened up to them. Up until now I felt overwhelmed by the whole situation I was in, I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the shots, to justify me winning the scholarship, and felt I wasn’t achieving that. It was definitely a huge learning experience working with the media photographers, all quietly competing for ‘the’ shot, which challenged me to go beyond the standard and capture a powerful beautiful natural portrait of the Yolngu people.

the media (above)

Winning the scholarship was a lifetime opportunity. I knew I needed to make the most of the situation, to give me the best chance in kick-starting a career in travel photography. And now was the moment where it all changed, I found my feet and felt comfortable and confident in what I was doing.

In particular the highlight from the yellow mob was a young girl named Macayla, she was such a funny girl. Other times I saw her she was very shy, but in this instant she totally opened up and was just beaming before the camera.

It was so much fun. I got her in the best mood. She was so cute. I asked her to do an angry face, and the photos that resulted of her little wrinkled nose makes me laugh with joy every time I see them.

Macayla

The highlight for tonight’s bungul was the solo dance by Crusoe Kurrdal, the guy from ‘Ten Canoes’ the movie. He’s quite a celebrity, filming a movie with Nicole Kidman at the moment, so at Garma he was a superstar, and the way of doing that in Yolngu culture is through dancing, and he is really the best at it, taking his traditional dancing to a new level. He moves so well.

Above, Crusoe Kurrdal.

I was so excited to meet him a few days before. I asked if I could take his photograph. I was so nervous, because of the huge respect I have for him as an actor and his dancing ability. I walked past him at first and thought “I have to get a photo of him,” but couldn’t, I didn’t have the courage to ask, then I just forced myself to go for it. I was that nervous I took a really blurry photo of him, but thankfully later on I got some awesome natural shots of the man who is Crusoe, just after his interview with the Discovery Channel.

That night friends Sam (from Korea) and Charlotte (from France) and I went to see the astronomy show. Living in Melbourne and not getting out into the country very often I hadn’t seen that many stars in years, I loved it. I could actually see the Milky Way. They had two telescopes set up, we viewed 4 moons of Jupiter, and a cluster star. But my highlight was lying on the rough rocky ground between two amazing beautiful girls who I had just met. It was very romantic even though there were two. I loved it. We were all pointing out shooting stars, which was heaps of fun. I love watching the stars. Our leader told us which stars were what and when it got the ‘teapot’ Charlotte asked, “What’s a teapot?” I tried not to laugh because I knew she was serious. I just said, “I don’t really know how to explain it,” and left it at that. But later I though I should have at least tried to explain, but it’s all in the past now!

Highlights from Day 2

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:51:00 GMT

The Key Forum is an important part of Garma. For 2007 the key issue was on ‘Indigenous health: real solutions for a chronic problem.’ Doctors, teachers and other experts in the area of indigenous health from around Australia and the world were invited to Garma, to discuss ways of successfully tackling and dealing with the issue of indigenous health. I can only hope that the recommendations will be heard and acted upon by the Government of Australia together with the indigenous people of this land, hand in hand, working together, as one.

After lunch I joined the Youth Forum, which gives the young people of the land the opportunity to hear advice from the elders and leaders of the land as well as indigenous sport stars, encouraging them to work hard at school, be good to your family, and to never give up because of who you are. It was to encourage the young that they really can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it. They were warned against drugs and alcohol, against “doing bad things.” They are the future leaders and owners of the land, so they need to look after it, themselves and their people.

After the various speakers finished, we all gathered together for a traditional smoking ceremony, to cleanse the young, to start again, making a promise to live life anew.

Everyone was lined up and filed to the fire pit, a short walk away from where the forum was. Wet bark was placed over the hot coals, and in groups of maybe 20 people they placed their hand on the hot wet bark, as one of the leaders sung a song whilst clapping the two sticks together. A Yolngu lady sat with each group, placing her hands over everyone’s hands, giving some kind of blessing.

After a few moments of being steamed, the group would stand up and file past the next fire where women brushed smoked gum leaves over each person, then placing the leaves back onto the coals and brushing the next person. It was a great experience. Seeing the reactions of all the people walking through, especially the white children who found it all a bit too hot, with one girl getting burnt from the smoked leaves as they brushed against her skin. As the ceremony was to purify everyone, I went through with the last group after I had photographed everyone else. And I can say the steamy wet bark was very hot, and you had to hold your hands in the heat for a long time. I was also a bit afraid of the burnt gum leaves brushing against my skin, but I think I handled it ok. Just my lungs didn’t feel so purified after breathing in all that smoke, but hey it was totally worth it.

The dancing of that evening was stepped up even more from the night before. I sat on the other side to last time, shooting into the sun to get the colours of the sand lit by the light behind it.

But little did I know that the place where I sat was going to be the path for the next dance. I was kindly asked to move along. I felt a bit cut down to start with but I quickly realise it was good that I moved otherwise I would have been in strife. I was in the best position for the dance. I was still really close, but thankfully I didn’t get trampled.

Highlights from Day1

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:49:00 GMT

It was only in the morning that I realised I was actually in the VIP area. I had no idea. The VIP area was separated by a wire at neck height, with VIP paper signs stuck along it, so if anyone dared to break in they would get cloth-lined at the wire.

The accommodation set up was huge. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, living in an enormous tent city of more than 2000 tents. There were tents as far as the eye could see, which brought home the huge scale of this event, and the work that was involved in setting it all up in the weeks leading up to the festival. I spoke to one guy, Tim, who set up most of the tents himself. He said he does a tent in 3 minutes. I was amazed. I can’t compete with that. It takes me 15 mins to set up one!

Breakfast was from anywhere between 6:30 to 9am. Because I hadn't slept well the night before I was unusually early eating my 3 (small plastic travel) bowls of nutre-grain, 2 tubs of yoghurt and some really watery cordial at 7am! It was good to be there then because I wanted to be ready for the day ahead and not accidentally sleep through the lot.
After breakfast I got all my gear together and went to the reception area where we caught a bus to Yirrkala, the small town near by where we visited the Yolngu School and later to the Buku-Larrngay Mulka Art Centre.

Visiting the school was an amazing experience. It’s a school only for Yolngu children, teaching them maths and geography with traditional dance and cultural learning programs in place to nurture the culture of their people, educating them in their law, whilst teaching them important things like learning to read and write in their language and in English.

The children had set up stalls were they were selling items to raise money for the school. One stall, managed by a small group of young girls were selling jewellery which they had made from a mix of fluro-coloured beads and sea shells. They were very cute about it, using a toy plastic cash register, politely serving customers, taking it all very seriously. They did a great job. Their work was hanging from a branch painted white with items hanging off it. Other stalls were selling iced juice, and various other things.

We waited on the open grass area for the children’s bungul (dancing) presentation that was being organised by the teachers out the back. It took a while to organise the sea of colourfully painted children, but I didn’t mind the wait, as I knew it was worth waiting for. Eventually the children emerged, with the girls to the left and the boys on the right. I walked up to the front to get a few shots of them coming out from behind the building. They were all very shy, as most Yolngu people are, and I can imagine how daunting it was for them to perform to a few hundred faces all watching them. The children really didn’t need to do much because they looked absolutely beautiful. Their smiling painted faces and wonderful bright coloured costumes were entrancing enough to please the audience and I couldn’t wipe the smile of my face, from the sheer joy it was to be there on that bit of grass to witness the future generation of the Yolngu people embracing their bungul, and doing such a great job of it. The children followed the lead of the teachers who were also painted up and colourfully dressed. It was an awesome experience.

I had a young boy sitting on my lap for most of it. He was fascinated by my camera and wanted to look through it all the time. I didn’t mind, I thought he was pretty funny, not shy at all. I let him look through the camera when I got tired of taking photos. He took a few and some actually turned out ok. He loved it. I took his photo (see below). It was very hard getting him to stand still.

After visiting the school two beautiful young girls and I walked to the gallery for the opening, because we had missed the bus that drove the others there. But I didn’t mind, perfect company, perfect weather, (27 degrees with a nice sea breeze), how could I complain?

The Yolngu people are internationally renowned for their cross-hatching painting technique, which is unique to their people. The Buku-Larrngay Mulka Art Centre has a collection of work in this style and other styles from past and present Yolngu artists. Most of the work is painted on bark (which is their traditional canvas) a technique they still use today, with other works painted on hollowed tree logs and sea shells. The work that is part of the collection is not for sale, but they also have an awesome shop where you can buy art works and other items such as grass bags. It doesn’t take long to realise why their style of work is so famous worldwide. They put their heart and soul into it, with each delicate brush stroke contributing to a powerful work of art.

The occasion for being there was for the opening of the extension to the gallery. Many people gave speeches and as I was sitting directly in the sun, my patience was wearing thin, and by this stage I was very tired. Other photographers were getting photos of the people talking and I was thinking to myself, maybe I should be out there taking a few, even though speech photos aren’t really my thing. But to my good fortune I was actually in the best spot. Dr. Gawirrin Gumana AO, a chief elder and artist was given the honour of officially opening the extension in “honour of the 48 Artists of Saltwater-Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country,” as written on the plaque on the large white stone commemorating the occasion. I was sitting right next to the stone where they were about to have the opening ceremony. The Dr. and other elders were singing and one was clapping sticks together as the cloth was pulled off, and the bright white stone was revealed. It was very exciting, I just happened to be in the perfect spot. Other media people rushed to where I already was, but by then it was too late.

Dr. Gawirrin Gumana AO (above)

That evening was my first taste of the bungul (dancing). The Bungul is the centre-point to the whole festival. The Yolngu clan groups have been coming to this spot, a large square area of sand, for hundreds of years. It’s only in the last 9 years that they’ve made a festival out of it. So really Garma is for the Yolngu people, and visitors have been invited to help preserve and nurture their culture and traditions through cultural tourism.

Every Yolngu clan group have their own unique names, songs, dances, and designs, which have been passed down to them from their ancestors, giving them their law, traditions and the yidaki (didgeridu). Watching the dancing is a truly awesome experience. The vibrancy in the colours they wear, and the energy expressed blew me away. They clearly show the depth of their ability and fitness in dancing from 4pm til sunset and sometimes later, and they’re still beaming and overflowing with positive energy by the end.

Most dances involve the throwing up of sand into the air by the thrusting and moving of the feet through the sand, which was awe-inspiring to watch.

Sand is difficult enough to walk in let alone dance in for hours! It also amazes me that each clan group has such a unique style, and yet each is so skilful, so empowering, and so beautiful. As the daylight fades over the horizon, the light produces beautiful soft colour casts enriching the colourful display of the bungul.

That night I went to the opening of the Gapan Gallery. Little red candles lit the pathway to the gallery, as everything was pitch black. The candlelight was beautiful, casting a faint red glow through the gallery. We gathered around the site, unaware of what was about to happen. I could faintly see a group of Yolngu women (who I later found out were the artists of the work) were sitting in the middle of the gallery.

Gapan Gallery is the most amazing gallery in the world, it’s an open air gallery nestles amongst a dense forest of gum trees, with a sand floor marking out the Gallery space with all the trees in this area painted white. I had no idea what to expect. I have never actually been to an open-air gallery like this. Then in the dark a Yolngu woman started explaining their beliefs of the land, and said they were going to call out to the land and ask for forgiveness… a short pause followed… then the women started wailing. They were so distraught. They were over come by emotion. I could feel the deep effect it was having on the people around me, I too felt moved. The women continued to cry, asking for forgiveness from the land. There was a silence… then boom. White light flooded the sky, burning the back of my eyeballs. What a shock! A beautiful shock! For a second there I thought it was the end of the world. The lights had been switched on and suddenly we could see the artworks hanging on the trees, and the sheer beauty and majesty of the gallery space was revealed. It was such a powerful experience. I so wasn’t expecting the lights to go on, and to be so powerful. Definitely a life experience.

The artworks were absolutely beautiful. If I had money I would have bought a few. Some of it was quite contemporary, with a few flavours from the past. But I was really blown away by the modern, quite abstract work, like that of nothing I have ever seen before, modern yet still with traditional aspects passed down from their ancestors.

First Night

cameron — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 10:47:00 GMT

After an exhausting day travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide, to Darwin and finally Darwin to Gove, I finally reached my destination. With three hours delay in total from the flights and such a long day travelling and sitting in airports it was definitely taking it’s toll, but I was still eager for the exciting new experience ahead.

Arriving in Gove at about 9:30pm, a bus drove up to Gulkula, the camping site for the festival, which would be my home for the next five days.

We arrived to a pretty chaotic situation with 2000 people needing to be assigned to tents all at once. I felt so sorry for the volunteers struggling to control the masses. I had no idea what I was doing. I stood in one line for ages and once I got to the front they said “and who are you,” I mumbled a bit about being a photographer and was pointed in the direction of the media room, which is a building site box where all the media people hang out. They have the internet via satellite, air-conditioning and electricity, a sanctuary from the elements outside.

Once I realised all the media people were standing around waiting there, I relaxed a bit because I was finally where I needed to be. And no longer had to aimlessly drag my bag through the thick red dust, or stand in lines that weren’t for me. On top of all that it was scorching hot! It had just rained and the humidity was through the roof. I was dripping with sweat like I’d been dragged into the sea by a crocodile and survived, which only made the waiting more unbearable.

Then the most exciting thing happened! I made human contact. I met a lovely team from San Francisco making a documentary film on sacred sites. I hung out with them for a bit, waiting in the dark. Their leader asked me why I was there and I explained I had won a Scholarship through World Nomads, it was open to student photographers around the world and somehow I managed to win. He was so excited he told his team all about it. “That’s amazing,” he said, “I look forward to seeing your shots.” He also said “Garma must be a pretty serious deal if they’re giving a scholarship to go to it.” They were very easy to get along with right from the start, and would become my friendship support for my stay at Garma.

I was given a ‘media pack’ with my name on it with info about Garma and a rough program, which helped sink in the amazing reality that I was one of them… an official photographer. I had never worked with or near media people, so I definitely felt I had been thrown in the deep end without my floaties, but felt honoured to be part of their exclusive club, now was the test to see if I would sink or swim.

Then at about 12midnight the American team and I had our bags thrown onto the tray of a ute and we drove down a dirt track to our camping ground. I was given a three-man tent to inhabit and boy can I tell you it was such a relief to finally get a tent, I was so exhausted it was beyond a joke, but I wasn’t complaining because I was ahead of many others who had to wait longer.

Then the worst thing happened… my torch was in my bag. My bag was locked, with a combination lock and wire… and there was no light!!!!! I fumbled around in the dark outside my tent for ages, trying to see the numbers from the light of the moon. It was very frustrating. After about 10 minutes of that, I finally saw someone walking by and I desperately ran towards them trying not to panic too much, otherwise they’ll think I’m a madman about to attack. I kindly asked if I could borrow her torch, she thought about it for a bit and then I was handed her torch in an emotional but quick ceremony and was was freed! What a relief that was! Next time I go to Garma I will remember to have my torch in my hand and not locked up in my bag.

In my tent was an airbed, and sleeping bag. I organised my things and browsed through the program for the next few days. I laid on my bed thinking about how strange and exciting it was that I was in Arnhemland. It was still very humid and I was still dripping with sweat trying to relax so I could fall asleep. I got about 5 hours sleep. I didn’t get a very good sleep. I kept waking up in shock, totally disorientated, not knowing where I was or what time it was. It was a vicious cycle that I couldn’t snap out of. Night-time ended, daylight began.