Seeing the beauty of FNQ through lens of a camera
Seventeen years ago, as a fresh faced 24-year-old, I walked into the Gold Coast Bulletin office to begin my career as a newspaper photographer. I was young and eager to prove myself in the high-paced and merciless media industry.
As the old journalists in the room would say, I was still wet behind the ears.
I was handed $30,000 dollars’ worth of camera gear – every young photographer’s dream.
Back then we had state of the art DSLRS and laptops to use – today, my cameras have three times the resolution, shoot four times as fast and are 10 times more sensitive to light. The new cameras connect wirelessly to my phone or tablet and the laptop stays in the car. In 2014 I moved north to continue my career with the
Cairns Post. Our team of five photographers covered all the breaking news, sport, business and social events we could fit into the paper.
I’ve covered the Murray Street murders, the Ravenshoe cafe gas explosion, and Prince Charles’ visit during the 2018 Commonwealth Games. My work has taken me as far as Aurukun and Thursday Island.
I’ve photographed five
Prime Ministers, two Premiers and one Mayor. I’ve snapped royalty and homeless. I’ve photographed a Syrian billionaire opening three new luxury hotels. I’ve seen two coral bleaching events on the reef, from underwater and from the air. I’ve photographed the search for Toyah Cordingley’s alleged murderer and the extradition of Rajwinder Singh.
I’ve shot national sporting matches and school competitions. I’ve even travelled to Auckland to photograph the Cairns Taipans losing their grand final match to the New Zealand Breakers by a single basket.
For almost 10 years I’ve had the best job in the world, recording history with my lens in the best location in the world. I hope to do it for a long time to come.
■ Queen Elizabeth arrives in Cairns and is greeted by 40,000 people, more than twice the city’s official population in 1954.
1961
Green Island Jetty opens.
■ The jetty opens as a highlight of the inaugural Cairns Tourist Festival, which has since evolved to become the annual Cairns Festival.
1962
■ Tobruk pool opens.
1973
■ HMAS Cairns naval base established.
1975
■ Rusty’s Markets opens.
■ Local identity Emrys “Rusty” Rees formalised the “hippie” market, which continues to operate today predominantly as a fruit and vegetable market.
1984
International airport opens. ■ The city’s airport becomes a dual-use international and domestic terminal on March 31, 1984, and welcomes more than 45,000 international passengers in its first year.
1987 TO 1996
Tourism grows with key openings.
■ The city’s reputation as a tourism destination grows with the opening of Tjapukai Dance Theatre in 1987, the declaration ofthe Wet Tropics as a UNESCO World Heritage Area in 1988, the opening of a dedicated international airport terminal in 1990, the construction of the SkyRail rainforest cableway in 1994 and the opening of Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in 1996. Cyclone Joy causes $6m of damage in 1990. James Cook University opens its Smithfield Campus in 1995.
2000
■ The Olympic Torch passes through the Far North and even visits the Reef.
2003
■ Cairns Lagoon opens.
■ The Queensland-shaped Cairns Lagoon opens on March 29, 2003, as part of the Big Splash event.
2006 TO 2011
■ Cyclones devastate the Far North.
■ Cyclone Larry crosses the coast near Innisfail in 2006 and causes more than a billion dollars worth of damage. Cyclone Yasi ups the ante in 2011 when it
crosses the coast in Mission Beach and causes more than $3bn in damage, solidifying itself as the biggest storm in Queensland’s history.
2016 TO NOW
■ Munro Martin Parklands officially open in 2016, followed by the Cairns Performing Arts Centre in 2018. Works on the $176m Cairns Convention Centre expansion begin in 2020 and the Esplanade dining precinct is completed in 2021.