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'I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.'
Shakespeare, Othello (I,i)

08.07.2004

The Weston

Backstory

In September 2002 I packed my Brisbane life into boxes and shipped them south to storage in Melbourne. Then I jumped on my bicycle and rode south following them.

I intended to document the fauna I encountered on the roads of the Australian East-Coast. I found possums and cane toads on the suburban roads near my Brisbane home and larger ex-wildlife on a training ride on Stradbroke Island. All photogenic. All dead. It boded, I felt, well, for my tour.

I carried an Olympus OM-1 SLR, lenses ranging from 25mm to 70mm and a mini tripod. It kept me entertained over the first few days to get off the bike, unpack the gear, set it up, alternately smiling mysteriously to myself and feigning innocence, and photograph, well, carcasses, basically. In varying degrees of decomposition.

I had films developed as I travelled, and kept notes in a journal. Each week I updated an online journal from a 'net cafe or library. I have recently edited the notes and created a new layout for the journal. Enjoy.

Stewart Haines, August 2004