The Australian Sand Dunes Project

There was always something about sand dunes.

Since I was very young, sand dunes have been part of my lived experience. Overnight camping trips in the sand dunes with my family and friends as a child remains a memory that brings back such a sense of nostalgia.

Mum would pack up the four-wheel drive and off we'd go on our adventure driving up to the Stockton Bight sand dunes. We knew we were getting close to the entrance to the dunes when dad would let the tires down, and very carefully, he would navigate driving through the dunes before reaching the beach where we would spend the day splashing around in the water and running bare feet amongst the dunes - it was the ultimate outdoor playground for us kids. Our parents would set up camp amongst the dunes with a pillow and sleeping bag each, carefully lined up between two four-wheel drives with a tarp on one side to protect us from the elements, leaving the other side completely open to surrounding landscape and the night sky. Back then there were no devices - we played hide and seek in the dunes, and used cardboard to slide down the dunes before climbing back up the top to do it all over again. We ran ourselves tired with sand covering us from top to toe, before heading back to our makeshift campground for dinner, a little dancing under the stars, and then it was off to bed early to get a good nights sleep so we could do it all over again the next day.

At 17 years of age, and with a film camera in hand, I went up to the Anna Bay sand dunes to capture the dunes, Tin City, animal footprints and the Sygna shipwreck. I happily wandered the dunes and hit the shutter button in every direction. What I truly enjoy about the film photography is the beautiful slowness to the developing process in the darkroom. The nervous anticipation of not knowing whether I had captured any decent photographs remains a sensation I'm yet to experience with digital photography, and watching the images form on paper before my very eyes is something I will treasure for as long as my mind allows the memory. It was magic. Looking back on those photographs, it's clear to see I have always been captivated by clean lines and minimal landscapes.

Time passed, and in my late thirties I was drawn back to the Port Stephens sand dunes. Just as I had been as a child, and as a teenager, I was awed by the beauty of the landscape that was in front of me. Traversing through the dunes, I felt an immediate connection to these shifting masses of sand. I loved the curves, the colours, the contrast of light and shadow, the textures and patterns, and I loved how small I felt - it felt as though I was standing amongst giants.

The Australian Sand Dunes Project begins.

Something stirred deep within me creatively, and there was a gentle whisper that would only get louder and louder the more time I spent in the dunes over the following months. I decided I wanted to create a body of work capturing these unique landscapes. I wanted to learn more about the dunes - how they're formed, why each dune system can look so different in size, shape and colour, I wanted to learn about the animals, reptiles, birdlife and insects that inhabit the dune systems and how they endure and thrive in these arid landscapes and I wanted to understand how we can experience and enjoy these unique landscapes from a sustainable tourism perspective.

So here I am, on the precipice of undertaking my first interstate leg of the Australian Sand Dunes project. In terms of the geographic location, it's a destination I have never been before, and never imagined I would get to this early on in the project. I'd intended to capture my "Everest" of sand dunes during the final stages of the project due to the sheer logistics of getting in and out, but it turns out serendipity, synchronicity and coincidence can strike at the most unexpected time, and so I'm traveling to central outback Australia to photograph the longitudinal dunes of the East Simpson Desert.

Until next time,

Deb