‘Australia’s Ocean Baths are very familiar to my camera. Often a visual feast, ‘The Baths' can be just as sensory with eyes closed.

Squeals of fun, the slap of bare feet on wet concrete, crashing waves and the squarks of seagulls picture the story of the Australian coast indelibly on my mind.

These coastal pools, spread around Australia, were originally built to safely wet and cool the citizens on hot summer days. Now, they also hold memories and remnants of past living and lives.

Worn, whitewashed steps have seen the same feet skip and later shuffle, growing from tiny & soft to gnarled and wide. Parents, holding small, excited hands, have nurtured the tentative steps of offspring beginning their own memories. These places are community. Gathering places of clans and friends.

On this cool winter’s day, I set my camera to make an extended, 17-minute exposure. It was long enough to ‘disappear’ the hardy swimmers lapping towards the numbered blocks on either side of the pool.

A ’trick’ of photography giving me an undisturbed place for my own nostalgia.’

Merewether Ocean Baths, Newcastle #7250

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