© All Images Copyright Alastair McNaughton
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'Salt Pouring' Vietnam 2003 |
'Reflections 2' Vietnam 2003 |
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'Salt Mountain' Vietnam 2003 |
'Salt Cycles' Vietnam 2003 |
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'Baby Roo' W.Australia 1994
'First Child' Himba Tribal Group Namibia 1996 |
'French Kiss Paris, France, 2002
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Back Flip'
Coonana Aboriginal Community
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'Jumping Cat Monastery' Lake Inle, Burma 1995
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'Walk on the Wildside' Varanasi, India 1992 |
'Water Buffalo' Varanasi, India 1995
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'Tango Dancers' Havana, Cuba 1996 |
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'Goat Monkeys' Morocco 2003 |
Taj Mahal 1 Agra, India 1995 |
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'Bridge Over Puddled Waters' Sydney, Australia 2001
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'Street Dentist Pakistan 1995 |
© All Images Copyright Alastair McNaughton
All photographs are signed limited edition originals printed to archival standards on resin coated pearl finish paper, priced at $250 each. Salt Series images may be purchased individually at the regular donation price, or at the special four image series price of $850. (Inquire to see more). Print size is 18x24 inches (image size 12x18) unless otherwise requested. Net proceeds go directly to local D.G.L. Foundation affiliates helping children in Laos and Cambodia. To order: email your request to orders@theartichoke.org and indicate the photo title(s) and quantity. We will contact you regarding payment information. We accept Visa, MasterCard, AMEX.
Alastair 'Mac' McNaughton came to professional photography relatively late in life following a highly successful career in graphic arts. He’d always had a healthy dose of the wanderlust in him, along with a fascination for native cultures. Then one fateful day at the ripe old age of 42, fed up with the confining demands of the graphic arts world, he found himself standing outside a Sydney pawn shop inexplicably drawn to an ancient 35mm Nikon in the window. The rest as they say, is history.
Mac’s first major project, documenting the Coonana Aboriginal community in Western Australia, lasted four years. Early on he displayed the kind of remarkable patience and adaptability common to only the very finest of documentary photographers, amazingly spending a full year with the community before taking so much as a single photograph. ‘Taking’ is a misnomer however, as royalties from these widely popular images, won through the trust of the people themselves, goes back to the community.
Portraits of native peoples are a McNaughton trademark. Although serendipity can play a vital roll in capturing a great image, it happens most often to those who are out there and open to it. “To capture a truly great portrait” Mac says, “you have to give something of yourself. It’s a collaborative effort, a shared moment between you and your subject that pierces all pretense." Mac’s technical approach to shooting is definitely minimalist. Not only does he use sparing amounts of film—an unheard of 50 rolls on a two month assignment—but he doesn’t use a flash or even carry a tripod. “Natural light and fast lenses suit me just fine.”
Mac's current assignment is documenting age-old methods of salt production around the world, and as you can see, the images thus far are stunning.
A rare snap of the elusive 'Snap Baba' peering from his tent
at the 2001 Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, India.
Photo: Bennett Stevens
Mac's exhibitions and prizes
include:
1992 ~ Fremantle
Arts Centre, Australia 1995 ~ National
Portrait Gallery, London
1996 ~ Perth Institute of Contemporary Art,
Australia 1996 ~ The Leica
Prize 1996 ~ The
Nikon/Panorama Prize 1997 ~ Royal
Photographic Society, UK 1999 ~ Starcourt
Gallery, Sydney, Australia 1999 ~ E3
Gallery, New York, NY 2000 ~ UNESCO
Award, Beijing 2000 ~ Arts
D'Australie Exhibition, Paris 2001 ~ Commonwealth
Environmental Award - First Prize 2002 ~ UNESCO (HIA)
Beijing, China
Body Adornment, First Prize 2004 ~ Artichoke
Magazine Photographer of the Year
San Francisco, USA