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This image of Wez the construction worker, taken in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, is part of a documentary piece that I shot in January on the Superpit, the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest opencast gold mining operation. It is being published in American publication ‘JPG’ in May 2007.
This shot was taken after a hard day’s work for both Wez and myself; he had been working for 12 hours straight, while I had just spent 4 hours shooting in the mine in 45 degree heat.
Kalgoorlie, 6 hours inland from Perth in the Australian outback, is in the grip of a boom in mining and its associated industries and contractors like Wez fly in from Perth to work in 3 week stints, staying in motels and working long hours. Although the work is tough, the money is lucrative. Visitors to Kalgoorlie will almost definitely meet the traditional ‘Aussie Bloke’ – hard working, hard drinking, straight talking, no bullshit – and generous to a rule.
His offer of pre-mixed whisky and coke on the patio of his motel room was impossible to resist. I shot 3 rolls of film while we talked about the differences and similarities of our respective careers, and how he was going to beat me at pool that evening…
Why do I like this image? I think it conveys a mix of emotions – a certain amount of respect and trust in what I was doing, but also a slight suspicion that he couldn’t help but hide. I hope that I have managed to uphold his dignity inspite of his rough appearance.
I would hesitate to call it my ‘all time favourite image’. I like a number of my images for different reasons. I guess that this is something that I have shot fairly recently so the context and experiences that I had in this time still resonate for me.
