Travel & Living Magazine

PEOPLE the salt project Landscape photographer Murray Fredericks travels to the ends of the Earth in pursuit of the perfect shot. STORY MICHAEL MAPSTONE NOBODY CAN DISPUTE photographer Murray Fredericks' dedication to his art. After all there are very few people who, on 16 separate occasions, would spend five weeks camping solo on the barren expanse of Lake Eyre in pursuit of images that convey the lake's sense of emptiness and infinite space. "It was a commitment, but it wasn't planned at the start," Murray explained to Travel and Living about his trips to Lake Eyre between 2003 and 2010. "People say it is a bland, muddy place but my aim is to convey an image that is more than the subject – in this case the salt lake itself. "It is a powerful location. There were times out there where, without a GPS or compass, I would be clueless. Everything looks the same in all directions. There would also be that incredible feeling at night when the stars were wrapped around me and coming down to my feet." For Murray, photographing such locations has been part of the natural evolution of his work. Largely self-taught, he spent about eight years photographing what he considers a "more traditional" landscape style, which is often concerned with a sense of place. "I wanted to move on from that to images about space that resonate," he said. Such work takes him to remote and sometimes extreme locations – and away from his family, which includes four sons aged from four to 14. "It's the job I do but that doesn't 110 www.travelandliving.com.au make it any easier. My family came on some of my early trips. They loved it and they understand. And with satellite phones you are never really alone. I could be off the lake and into town in a day. "I've even been sitting in a flooded lake on the phone to art directors about my next commercial shoot. When I hang up and look around at where I am, that is a surreal experience." Murray admitted that isolated locations can throw up many challenges. "You spend a lot of time confronting your own mind and if you get depressed you have got to pull yourself out of it and I have strategies for that. But I often relish that time alone." Thirty-five of Murray's Lake Eyre images have recently been on display at the Australian Centre for Photography in Sydney. "Exhibiting my work is always a highlight," Murray said. "Every photographer's view is different. I had one or two of my greatest moments out there (on Lake Eyre), but I think the reason for shooting is to convey a message. I think it is thrilling to see your images having the affect you wanted." Murray, whose many photographic awards include first place in the landscape category of the 2010 Australia's Top Photographers Awards, has also made a perhaps inevitable divergence into cinematography. His upcoming exhibition will also feature his first documentary film, SALT, on which he was cinematographer and co-director. The film has won 12 major international awards and has screened on the ABC and America's PBS. So what's next? Murray already has two new projects well underway: one is a series on thunderstorms that is being shot exclusively in the Tiwi Islands; the other is based in Greenland. The projects are in their second and third years, respectively, and each will take at least four or five years to complete. The two locations could not be more different. "We can be shooting in the Tiwi Islands at 36 to 38 degrees with 100 per cent humidity. In Greenland it has been minus 30. Greenland has presented some real physical challenges and it's probably the first place where I've been scared – the weather can close in on you and you just can't get out." But you get the feeling Murray's greatest challenge comes in testing the limits of his work. "It's got to be new work – it can't just be good work," Murray states. "Fifty years ago you could come back with shots of things that people had never seen before but these days there are satellite images of every inch of the Earth. To find something new is a big challenge – you've got to go in. You have to take photography to places it has never been before." For more information on Murray's work visit www.murrayfredericks.com.au

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