A former tour guide and bull catcher explores the colours of the Top End.
Photos by Wayne Turner
Wayne Turner reckons all his nature photography is a mixture of opportunistic shots, and other images that take a lot of planning and waiting for the right conditions, such as the 14 hours of driving he did over two weekends to get a long-distance shot of Jim Jim Falls in full flood. A tourism and Indigenous business consultant who divides his time between the Northern Territory and Java, Indonesia, Wayne was once a ringer and bull catcher on NT stations such as Litchfield and Willeroo. Wayne started taking photos and furthering his love of the Top End when he became a tour guide centred on Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land – a job he held for 17 years. “I was hooked on the Top End for its adventurous lifestyle, which got under my skin,” he says. “My friendships grew with some of the elders who taught me so much about survival and their Aboriginal lore, which made me more at home out there.”
Wayne’s photos document the moods and colours of the Top End, and particularly feature lightning and storms, lush landscapes and an eclectic menagerie of wildlife.
This story excerpt is from Issue #111
Outback Magazine: Feb/March 2017
