Finding North

Finding North. 2024.

I took this shot at Fongs Store in Broome, in north west Australia in June 2019. It was, as is usual for Broome, a scorching hot day of about 38C/100F. Inside, my oldest friend was buying us cold drinks and frozen bait so we could go fishing off a local pier. Outside, I took the opportunity to take this shot of this Nissan Patrol in the carpark. It belonged to my friend’s new girlfriend (now the mother of his child) and in a few hours it would break down, and leave us stranded, laughing deliriously from the heat and the terrible timing of it all. Our bait would cook inside while we waited for the mechanic, leaving a smell that was worse than it sounds. I’d traveled to Broome under the pretense of supporting my friend while he worked on his sobriety. But reflecting on it now, I was visiting him for my own support. I’d quit The Project a year earlier after a hellish case of burnout caused by a variety of factors, and now I was lost and looking for a trusted voice to help me find north again. He thanked me when I left. I never returned the favour until now. Thanks bruv.