Matilda’s snappy passion

JUST 180 minutes away from qualifying for the Olympics, veteran Matilda Elise KellondKnight will have another canvas to play with if her team make it to the Tokyo Games.

The first leg of a playoff with Vietnam tonight should be the springboard for Australia to take a giant step towards making yet another Olympics, and Kellond-Knight would have no trouble filling her downtime in Japan.

A prodigious photography portfolio, much of it shot over the past few years while in camp with the Matildas, has reached the stage where a collection of Kellond-Knight’s images are to go on show in Sydney for four weeks from today until April 2, with the shooter herself in attendance on March 14.

It might not be a surprise that a player with more than 100 caps — with a degree in pharmacology and “threequarters” of a masters in the same — should be looking for ways to use her mind away from training.

The photography became a new way to wile away hours as she recovered from an injury nine years ago, but has become a much bigger focus on tours since.

“I first picked up a camera in 2011 when I had a bad ACL injury and I needed a new hobby that would fill my time,” Kellond-Knight said.

“I’ve always been interested in landscapes and I read a lot, taught myself really, and everywhere I’ve travelled I’ve tried to reflect it with my photography.”

Her work caught the eye of the CEO at a photography store in Sydney.

As well as advice and equipment, the company offered her the chance to house her own exhibition. Long before that period comes to an end the Matildas hope to be through to the Olympics, though the patience needed for KellondKnight’s photography will be a valued commodity over two legs against Vietnam.

Australia struggled in its last game against China to get past a resiliently defensive side, and coach Ante Milicic anticipates a similar challenge tonight and next week.