The enormous cargo ships that pass through Port Kembla harbour, facilitating our region’s steel and mining industries and grain export, are the subject of a new exhibition by Bulli photographer Chris Duczynski. Up close, the scale of these ships is overwhelming, but in them Chris sees might, industrial beauty and grace.
“They make very little noise when they come into port… almost like they're gliding,” he says.
“[There’s] this real anomaly between the size and the way they cruise in so gracefully.
“These gigantic things that cross the ocean full of cargo… they’ll come into port and sometimes the light just hits the side of it, like there's this golden glow, so they look like this thing that’s emerged from the horizon.”
It's a vision Chris is set to share with the public when From the Deep opens at Wollongong Art Gallery this Friday, February 3. From the Deep is a joint exhibition of photography with University of Wollongong photojournalist Paul Jones, who has documented traditional whale hunting in Indonesia. It will be at WAG until February 28.
Chris's fascination with cargo ships began while working as a wharfie between freelance photography gigs for his production company Malibu Media, a business he established 18 years ago.
“I've always been interested in industry and the scale of industry… and the things that go into making giant furnaces, giant engines and giant rivets,” Chris says.
“I had a lot of ideas of scale, and the gigantic ropes and anchors and rivets and plates and all that sort of stuff that were on the ships… everything's gigantic when they come into port.
“My whole concept is based around globalism and how these cargo ships bring in consumer items for us; 90% of what we consume is brought in by ship.”
Chris’s forte is aerial imagery and videography of the coastline, but he is unafraid to branch out.
Many of his most memorable jobs throughout his 40-year career vary considerably – from visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing and exploring China's landscape, to learning how perfume is made in Paris, to documenting his own outback motorcycle trips for Australian magazines, to many international assignments during his 16-year stint as an in-house cameraman for Qantas.
Sticking closer to home these days, Chris will next showcase the unique designs and patterns of the native scribbly bark gum tree.
“I've been doing a project on scribbly bark gum trees and their weird designs and patterns, and their relationship to almost like Aboriginal art, I suppose, when you look up close to them,” Chris says.
“It’s also another scale thing; I want to make full-size photos of these trees, and so when people enter the gallery it's almost like entering into a forest."
For now, Chris enjoys seeing his years of port-side imagery come to life.
“[Wollongong Art Gallery’s] been great because what they do is they have a community access space, so anyone can actually exhibit there, so I'd encourage people, if they've got artwork, to look to them for exhibits," he said.
"It's a great space, beautiful space up there, so it's definitely worth a visit."
From the Deep, by Chris Duczynski and Paul Jones, is showing from February 3 to 28 at Wollongong Art Gallery. For more information, see Wollongong Art Gallery's website.
