© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
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ABN: 54 74 277 1196
It’s almost impossible to believe that this photograph, featured on the cover of Tracks in March 1972, isn’t a trick; but Witzig did indeed take it from the water, struggling to maintain his own position very, very close to the action. Murray Smith’s sleek neoprene form is lofted on a veritable mountain of water. His profile itself resembles a granite headland; the lobe of his ear, between sideburn and lock of slick hair, is in the exact centre of the photograph. Coates focuses on his own path but there’s a profound sense of connection between the two surfers. Smith feels, in himself, the sweet ride his friend has caught, and his chest swells with exultation as he waits for his own. They say you never surf twice on the same wave.
An exhibition of photographs by John Witzig, drawings by Nicholas Harding and film footage by Albe Falzon, expressive of the free-spirited, hot-blooded energy of Australian surfers under the cloud of conscription to Vietnam.
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