Mullumbimby Now and Then
Where do I belong? by Lorraine Jones
The facts as i know them:
The Then Photo: Commercial Hotel, Mullumbimby 1930 now known to all as The Middle Pub.
The story as I imagine it:
There is a haunting beauty in this Then photo for me. An ambient stillness. There is a solidness of building but a frailty of human spirit. There is a waiting , a longing, a sense of being there for those in the photograph but there seems to be an almost hovering on an edge. So this early photo actually feels like it’s on the edge of town rather than in the centre. There is a stillness, a sense of place, a moment in time. Literally a snapshot – bang – hold it. The photo holds lack of movement with a shimmering dampness that, when touched, could dissipate and fall into the solidness of the building.
When I take the Now photo there is a searching for a time that was but shows a new vibrancy that speaks of a community within the North Coast that has voices and characters of its own. The strength and resilience and character is still there with a slap of paint and some changes – holding on to the depth and story which captures our North Coast lives.
Lorraine Jones.
This Now and Then photo and story was created in an ABC Open North Coast workshop (abc.net.au/open) in partnership with the Brunswick Valley Historical Society and the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre (NRWC). Courtesy of the NRWC workshop participants were guided through the writing task by author Alan Close who invited the group to imagine themselves in their Then photos. The result is this creative collection of Now and Then "the story as I imagine it ...."
Where do I belong? by Lorraine Jones
The facts as i know them:
The Then Photo: Commercial Hotel, Mullumbimby 1930 now known to all as The Middle Pub.
The story as I imagine it:
There is a haunting beauty in this Then photo for me. An ambient stillness. There is a solidness of building but a frailty of human spirit. There is a waiting , a longing, a sense of being there for those in the photograph but there seems to be an almost hovering on an edge. So this early photo actually feels like it’s on the edge of town rather than in the centre. There is a stillness, a sense of place, a moment in time. Literally a snapshot – bang – hold it. The photo holds lack of movement with a shimmering dampness that, when touched, could dissipate and fall into the solidness of the building.
When I take the Now photo there is a searching for a time that was but shows a new vibrancy that speaks of a community within the North Coast that has voices and characters of its own. The strength and resilience and character is still there with a slap of paint and some changes – holding on to the depth and story which captures our North Coast lives.
Lorraine Jones.
This Now and Then photo and story was created in an ABC Open North Coast workshop (abc.net.au/open) in partnership with the Brunswick Valley Historical Society and the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre (NRWC). Courtesy of the NRWC workshop participants were guided through the writing task by author Alan Close who invited the group to imagine themselves in their Then photos. The result is this creative collection of Now and Then "the story as I imagine it ...."