I recently finished an awesome book by Finn Beales, ‘The Photography Storytelling Workshop which really opened my mind to narrative storytelling for personal and commercial projects.
It got me thinking about previous trips and what photo stories I could start creating.
I immediately thought of these images from my time mustering on a cattle station in the Northern Territory, Australia.
There’s a lot of things I like about these four images. One they’re coherent; two, there’s a strong theme throughout; three, there’s beautiful light, and four it’s something interesting. All the key components of a good photo story.
I found these essays are a great chance to feature ‘seconds.’ Images you may have passed over in favour of stronger stand along pieces, but which provide the links between the great pictures and are essential in any set of published photographs.
Read on below.
Hunting in the Aussie Outback
There’s pretty much one thing on the menu at the station kitchen, meat. You can have it anyway you like, blue, raw or medium-rare. Just not well done. That’s a no no. Despite his best efforts, Ally the station cook had been unable to persuade the ranchers there were alternatives to an all-meat-diet.
On a cattle station in the Australian outback, where the nearest shop is a 110 mile drive, you have to make do with what you’ve got. Which just so happened to be 10,000 cattle on 50,000 acres of Australian bush.
One evening, when the sun low and our stomachs empty, we piled into the station ute and rattled out in search of dinner.
Though Colt is still too young muster with his Dad Morgan, at 6 years old he can competently skin and butcher cattle knowing exactly the best parts to take.
All the prime cuts; ribs, sirloin, kidneys, liver and more. The carcass was left for the wildlife to scavenge. There was a known group of dingos that frequented the station so nothing would be left to waste.