I have known Richard Woldendorp for 30 years and in a way Richard has been ‘sitting’ for this portrait for all of this time. For the past five years I have been considering how to culminate and concentrate these thirty years into an image. The medium that I have used, of different types of petroleum waxes and oils, involves the building up of many transparent layers which develops a complex inner structure that is deeper than the surface of superficial two-dimensional representation. The depth and complexity of this medium Provided the means to capture the side of Richard that is rarely seen but is an ever-present part of who he is. The other side of Richard’s tenacious grip on life is reflected in this portrait; the subject of the image is more the vulnerability that is at the core of his character, rather than the actuality of his face.

Richard Woldendorp (b.1927) is a renowned photographer of the Australian landscape, most well known for his striking aerial photographs of the Australian outback, its natural abstractions and the visual effects of agriculture. Richard is an Honorary Life Member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography and in 2002 was inducted into the ACMP Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was further honoured in WA as a State Living Treasure. Richard's work is in the collection of the Australian National Gallery and the National Library in Canberra, as well as at several state galleries. Richard has also had 16 books published.