Landscape
A Glimpse of the World that was

Topic Images
- Click on for a map showing where the photograph was taken
- Click on for details about the image
There are currently 22 photographs in this section.
Peak oil
Rapid obsolescence was just around the corner


Motorcycle parking at the top of Hill Street, North Sydney [Oct-2020 343KB]
Remarks
Abrupt about face
The first explorers received a nasty surprise when they tried to follow the rivers inland


Glenbrook Creek boulders, Lapstone [Aug-2021 524KB]
Rewilding the wilderness
Civilisation was only a few kilometres away, although you would never know it


Magdala creek, Blue Mountains National Park [Oct-2019 732KB]
Across the rill and into the trees
The way out was much easier than Papa feared


Fern Dell, near Springwood NSW [Oct-2019 755KB]
Golden mean
The rise and fall of the west glowed with unfulfilled promise


Garawarra Ridge, Royal National Park NSW [Oct-2019 756KB]
Features of heritage redevelopment
Mate, if you want to make an omelette then you gotta break a few eggs


1920s heritage shops at Lawson in the Blue Mountains NSW, prior to demolition in Dec 2010.
This linear panorama — divided into three strips for easier viewing — was composited by hand from 62 source images. The master image is a continuous panorama 52000 × 3300 pixels [Oct-2006 341KB]
Precipitous descent
Decades of wandering through a hostile terrain, only to flounder in the sea


Ocean cliffs south of Little Marley, Royal National Park NSW [Aug-2020 544KB]
Remarks
Past escarpment
It was easy to forget how dramatic the landscape could be


The view south from Thelma Head, Royal National Park NSW [Jul-2019 482KB]
Pac-Man rock
Eventually the environment will reward us for our diligence


Florabella pass track, Blue Mountains National Park [Aug-2021 879KB]
Retro refurb
Tranquilly through adverse possession


Whitely Gardens on reclaimed NSW Railway land, Lavender bay in Sydney [Oct-2020 789KB]
A crown of ashes
Every Christmas we would gaze up at the pyrocumulus sky, exchange Bushfire Survival Plans and kiss beneath the epicormic shoots


Woodford bushfire aftermath, Blue Mountains [Dec-2019 736KB]
Remarks
Public Private Partnerships
Local governments were prepared to go to any length to protect the value and amenity of beach-side mansions (The Guardian, 2021)


Collaroy Beach anti-erosion seawall [Apr-2022 568KB]
Tracks through the past
COVID lockdowns encouraged the rediscovery of our neighbourhoods


Tramway track at Darks Common, Lapstone [Aug-2021 900KB]
Cruise to live
We were global citizens who liked to move whenever the fancy grabbed us


Majestic Princess cruise-ship at the Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal [Dec-2022 402KB]
Temporary respite
Spend all morning crawling over room-sized boulders, before having a break and doing it all over again on the way back


Glenbrook Gorge, Lapstone [Aug-2021 608KB]
Remarks
Unlimited potential
Entire hillsides were covered with these things, just standing there and not doing anything


The lower portion of the Wodi Wodi track, near Coalcliff NSW [Oct-2020 941KB]
Leave No Trace
There will come a time when it will be hard to believe we were ever here


Fern Dell, Springwood Blue Mountains National Park [Oct-2019 836KB]
Go tell the Spartans
Philip Oldfield, who reviewed Quay Quarter Tower for Architecture Australia, argued that the building is one of the most important of the 21st century, as a demonstration of how office towers of more than 100 metres could be adapted instead of demolished and replaced


Quay Quarter Tower courtyard, Circular Quay [Dec-2022 402KB]
Beneath the steps
The smallest details were often overlooked


Sassafras Gully Track, near Springwood [Aug-2021 631KB]
The way out was not easy
The unprecedented was discreetly normalised


Florabella pass track, Blue Mountains National Park [Nov-2019 792KB]
Zigzag environments
Our infrastructure was forever being torched or overgrown


Zigzag Railway upper and lower viaducts, Clarence [Jul-2019 717KB]
Home before the leaves fall
The mist was smoke and haze, the leaves on the ground due to drought and fire


Woodford bushfire aftermath, Blue Mountains [Dec-2019 735KB]
Notes
These images are multi-shot panoramas, typically showing a view 120° wide and 38° vertical.
They were assembled from 6−10 rectilinear images, shot in portrait-format and using an entrance-pupil aligned camera mount. The individual shots were then “stitched” to create partial-panoramas @ 110 MPixel in size.