Images from the centre of Australia

Here’s some of the images that I took on several of my trips back to Alice, I needed a lot of reference material to build up enough of a sense of place in the Long Weekend. One of main aims was to flesh out the town a little as the central idea of the essay was about how a place can affect those that live in it, a sort of “pyschogeography” of sorts. Alice is often a town that affects people, passers through are often very taken aback at the obvious disparity in health and behaviour. Are often shocked at the obvious violence that occurs in the streets. People who live there are often bitter about it. The letter section of the Advocate newspaper often has overtly racist tones referring to “people who sleep in the park”. Everyone reading is aware of who the “people” are. The “drunks” etc … the euphemisms are unnecessary. People keep insisting that they have a right to feel safe in their homes. But, as all places on the edge are, the town is surrounded by an incredibly hostile and beautiful landscape. Ancient mountain ranges worn down to their nubs by time. Orange rock that is inflamed for that first ray of sun each day, gnarled trees, rocks, creatures, people. The spikes in the grasses slashes the tires of your bicycle three times on the way home from work, you have to push it along the stinking bitumen through the heat … bugger. 

Tags: Alice Springs, Australian comics, Craig San Roque, The Long Weekend