Jon (Jon Muir)

Jon Muir OAM (b. 1961) is an adventurer and sustainability advocate. He has gained pioneering solo records in climbing the south side of Mount Everest and traversing the Kedarnarth Peaks, and travelled alone to the South and North Poles without huskies or mechanised vehicles. In 2001 he and his dog Seraphine began a journey from Port Augusta in South Australia to Burketown on the Queensland north coast. Dragging a sled, taking 128 days on foot and covering 2500 kilometres, Muir became the first person to complete a solo and unassisted walk across the Australian continent. Close to starvation when he arrived, he recorded his experiences of the walk – including the death of Seraphine – in a video diary. The footage was made into the documentary Alone Across Australia (2003), directed by Muir and Ian Darling AO.

In 2008 Muir and Darling walked from Kings Canyon to Uluru. As Darling recalls: 'One evening after a 20km walk, Jon suggested we continue and cross Lake Amadeus in the light of the moon … His face reflects a sense of pure excitement and raw energy after another magical day in the wilderness. Jon is at one with the environment; his face still covered with zinc cream accumulated over the week's walk.'

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2009 Finalist

Gift of the artist 2010
© Ian Darling