Alice Springs Photos

About the Photographer

Barry Allwright, EFIAP, FAPS, SSAPS has been photographing in Central Australia for some forty years. During that time he has been able to visit many remote locations in Australia’s Outback. This has enabled him to establish a library of photographs of this unique part of Australia.

In 1998, Barry’s artistic photographic skills were recognized by the Federation Internationale de l’Art Photographique when it awarded him the honour of Excellence FIAP (EFIAP). At the time of receiving this award, Barry was only the ninth Australian in twenty years to receive this honour.

During the following year, Barry was honoured by being awarded the honour of Fellow, Australian Photographic Society Inc. (FAPS).

Barry has exhibited his photography in almost twenty countries around the world. This has resulted in his photographs winning a number of awards, including gold and silver medals.

His photographs have been published in many books and magazines, including the National Geographic’s book The Desert Realm and the Australian Geographic’s journal. Cibachrome/Ilfochrome prints of Barry’s photographs are held in a number of collections, including Government House in Darwin, the Northern Territory Art Awards housed at the Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs, and in private collections in Australia and overseas.

In July, 2000, Nikon Club's web site, Lighter Reading, mentioned Barry Allwright as one of Australia's "top photographers". Barry has been included on the Australian Photographic's Society's Who's Who list of photographers on numerous occasions. He has also been included on the Photographic Society of America's Who's Who list of photographers on a number of ocassions.

The photography

Barry concentrates his photographic talent on the fascinating landscapes of the area – the rugged MacDonnell Ranges, the many gaps and gorges, the red-brown of the ancient rock faces, the sand dunes of the Simpson Desert, and the beauty of the Ghost Gums.

Next to these are photographs of the botany of The Centre – close ups of wildflowers, wide vistas of colour after autumn rains, and studies of Desert Oaks, River Red Gums, and other appealing trees. Barry’s photography library includes photographs of old, sometimes decaying, buildings such as abandoned cattle station homesteads and mining buildings.

One of Barry’s specialities is photographing The Outback at night, generally including star trails and an illuminated foreground. Central Australia, with one of the clearest night skies in the world, is an ideal location to carry out long exposures at night showing the brilliance of the night sky and the various colours of the star trails as the earth revolves on its axis during the night. These photographs could involve exposures of more than ten hours. He has had articles on night photography techniques published in Australia’s Better Photography and Image magazines as well as Outdoor Photographer published in the USA.

A number of the images in Barry's photograph gallery were taken just after sunset and include an unnaturally red sky. This has not been created in a computer but is the result of the massive eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June, 1991. The volcanic ash cloud created by the eruption completely encircled the planet. It is an effect that Barry does not expect to see again in his lifetime.

Prints

Unfortunately, photographic prints of the images in these galleries are no longer available for purchase.