Rangefinder Magazine
February 2006

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Profile: Richard Woldendorp Peter Skinner
An Airborne Artist's Images of the Land Down Under

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Western Australia photographer Richard Woldendorp has probably seen more of Australia— especially from the air—than the average Aussie, and, more importantly, his unique vision of this land Down Under has revealed extraordinary views of many hidden treasures created by nature over millions of years. A prominent characteristic of this ancient land, worn down by water and wind since its creation, is its flatness. Consequently, the amazing patterns of desert, ranges, swamps, flood plain, estuaries and coastline could not be seen in their entirety until viewers were able to observe from above. And this viewpoint, invariably from a single-engine fixed wing aircraft, was certainly appreciated and capitalized on by Woldendorp, whose stunning images from that vantage point have graced countless pages of books and magazines and have been displayed in prestigious museums and galleries.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

The sheer majesty and subtle nuances of the many faces of wild Australia are captured in images that range from the dramatic and powerful to provocative abstracts whose delicate hues and graphic design are imbued with the touch of a painter. For five years after he first came to Australia from Holland, Woldendorp did actually work as a painter—of houses. However, in his spare time his painting was more artistic, focusing on the Australian landscape. He later chose photography as his medium, a decision that is undoubtedly praised by thousands of Australians who have been able to see and appreciate their own country through his discerning eyes.

My first encounter with Richard Woldendorp was during the Brooks Institute-sponsored “Focus on New Zealand” in 1985, an international photography conference held in conjunction with the New Zealand Government and the founders of the New Zealand Centre of Photography. When he presented his work at the New Zealand event, the impact was immediate and powerful, winning acclaim from other renowned international photographers including Ernst Haas, Brian Brake, Ernie Brooks, Rosellina Burri-Bischof and Chris Rainier. When I recently caught up with him and his wife and business partner, Lyn, in their home in Perth, Western Australia, Woldendorp was as ebullient and enthusiastic as ever. A selection of his images had just been showcased in the Art Gallery of Western Australia; his latest book, Design by Nature (written by Victoria Laurie, published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press in association with Sandpiper Press; ISBN: 1- 86368-349-6) was a success; and he was already planning another to add to the dozen or so previous books.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Born in Utrecht, Holland, in 1927, Woldendorp studied commercial art and painting until 1946, when he joined the Dutch Army and went to the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) for three years. In 1950 he emigrated from Holland to Perth, at which time he worked as a house painter. It was not until 1955, while on a holiday trip to Europe, that he bought a camera. He soon became absorbed in photography’s creative possibilities and within about five years—and after winning national photography prizes—he turned professional, shooting for magazines.

Woldendorp has never obsessed over the technical aspects of photography. And while his mastery of technique is undeniable, his principal focus has invariably been on the elements of nature’s design, the interplay of light and shadow and the abstract patterns that unfold before him on the grand scale typical of Australia’s vistas seen from above.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Perhaps Woldendorp owes the success of his imagery to the fundamental approach he took on first becoming a photographer: keep it simple; keep it clean. In other words, his photographs are pure and honest; they are not altered or enhanced beyond the capabilities of the camera, lens and film. His images are are the result of an artist working in conjunction with nature’s immense contributions of subject matter and light. His approach is straightforward. He simply opens a window, makes sure he is not touching any part of the plane with his arms (to avoid vibration) and shoots, often at very slow shutter speeds. “The pilot just flies straight and there’s no movement. The plane is well tuned, so there’s minimum vibration, and you don’t lean on any part of the plane. You just open the window and concentrate on what you’re photographing,” he says. He also adds that he has benefitted from the advent of lenses and color films fast enough to allow him to make his aerial pictures, and he has been fortunate to have the resources to provide him access to remote places. “I’m lucky—in my lifetime the whole thing came together! Plus, I had the bonus of the right country to do it in,” he says.

While Woldendorp has used a variety of equipment, from large format to 35mm, his principal camera has often been the Pentax 6x7 with a standard 85mm lens. More recently, he has favored the Canon EOS-1 camera fitted with Canon image stabilizing (IS) lenses in the 28–135mm and 70–210mm range. His film of choice has been Fujichrome Velvia when using the image stabilizing lenses, which allow slower shutter speeds. When shooting with the Pentax 6x7 he uses 100 ISO film. The zoom lenses are very handy when he wants to isolate a section of a scene without having to fly lower. The pilot can fly straight and steady while Woldendorp composes and shoots at will. He approaches all his aerial photography with the title of Swiss photographer George Gerstner’s book Flight of Discovery as a guiding mantra. “Whenever I head out in an airplane I consider it a flight of discovery, so I think Gerstner’s book title describes how I feel very well,” he says.

As evocative and inspiring as his images are, Woldendorp is not an outspoken crusader for the environment. He simply lets the eloquent photographs speak for themselves and convey his deep-rooted love and respect for his adopted country’s natural world. And the “listeners” might range from those familiar with his subjects to city dwellers who have never ventured beyond the immediate environs of cities such as Sydney or Melbourne. Regardless of background, one would have to be insensitive to remain unmoved upon viewing a Richard Woldendorp aerial image of a wind-eroded ancient range, or of intricate tidal patterns in remote regions few ever visit. Australia’s population is concentrated along the east coast while its interior—for years dubbed the “Dead Centre,” despite being very much alive and now more aptly titled the “Red Centre”—is seemingly endless and sparsely populated. Out there, its wild creatures truly roam free.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Woldendorp relishes being able to access and photograph those wild places. “I was never destined to be a studio photographer or to spend hours at a desk. I like getting out of those situations. I don’t like being trapped by humanity,” he says. It’s little wonder then that Western Australia, with its wide open spaces and untamed land, captivated his imagination and creative spirit. Ironically, his entry to the Australian wilderness was courtesy of an entity whose ambitions were to find and extract mineral resources from the very places that Woldendorp loves to photograph. For some 40 years he has worked with the same giant mining company, which has given him license to document their activities in the remotest regions of northwest Australia.

“Often I am accompanied only by one or two geologists. While we are all fascinated with the country we are exploring, we have different goals. They see it as a potential source of minerals to be exploited; I see it from a visual aspect with an artist’s appreciation for the way nature has created this unique landscape,” he says.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Admittedly, when he first started photographing in Australia’s far-removed areas, his visual ambitions were different. “I thought I had to put people or things in the landscape images. Then, when I started traveling through Australia in the late 1950s, I became aware it was under-photographed. There were not many photographs that taught you much about the country—there were just the usual promotional, touristy shots,” he says. His passion became explaining Australia’s landscapes to Australians. He is far more impressed with nature itself than in what man and machines can do to alter the landscape. His eye looks for the graphic designs and patterns in what lies before him, the essence of the detail, rather than having to know the correct scientific nomenclature of a tree or plant. Where an engineer might see the mouth of a river and ponder the difficulties of bridging it, Woldendorp will absorb the myriad patterns and colors created when sand, minerals and water mingle with the brown tannin of vegetation.

As with any other great nature photographer, Richard Woldendorp has learned to really look closely and see his subject. He has the rare ability to extract from an environment—be it a vista stretching to the horizon or a small cluster of rocks or trees—images that capture its essence. Also, he is ready and willing to learn from others who know a region well. “The secret of success is allowing myself to be submerged in the endless possibilities. The pictures are there. It is for me to be open-minded to see them. And that is one of the pleasures of photography,” he says. And he appreciates how natural things work together, and how they can be used productively with minimal impact on the environment.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © RICHARD WOLDENDORP

Woldendorp’s images—whether of designs forged by wind and rain on rock, or of the intricate and colorful abstractions of rivers and estuaries, or of desert plains—portray the essential elements of the Australia’s natural history. He brings before us such mysterious places as the Bungle Bungle rock formations in Western Australia’s Purnululu National Park; the eerie shapes of the Pinnacles Desert with its amazing patterns of limestone pinnacles protruding through sand dunes; the weird shapes and colors of water-eroded rock on the face of Uluru in the Northern Territory; and the honeycomb weathering in places like the Kennedy Range, which resembles the skeleton of a giant animal.

While this eminent photographer has etched a prominent place in Australian and international photography, his prime consideration has not been in the craft of making pictures. As he says of much of his work: “It is not an exercise in photography but in the appreciation of nature.” And through his own way of appreciating and portraying nature, Richard Woldendorp has created an array of stunning photographs that in turn have helped thousands of others also appreciate what he has seen.

More of Richard Woldendorp’s work can be seen on his website: www.wildlight.net.