2 minute read
MOMENTS From Miles Away
When Matt Deakin travelled to Broome for the first time, as a backpacker, in 2011, he had no idea just how inspired he would be by its natural beauty. Innately captivated by its distinctive colours, rock formations and brilliant coastline, he was desperate to share its splendour with family and friends back home in Northern England, prompting him to pick up a camera and use it to capture each new place he’d explore.
Matt now produces some of the most mesmerising aerial photographs of Broome’s diverse and distinctive landscape, inspiring not only friends and family, but people across the globe purchasing his dreamy impressions of Broome to hang in their homes.
Representative of the impact Matt's photos are achieving, earlier this year Australian Geographic purchased one of his images to showcase as a double page spread in their March/April magazine.
The image was a powerful shot of Roebuck Plains at the peak of flooding. Arriving at sunrise, Matt captured the plains appearing like an endless ocean.
“To be published in Australian Geographic magazine is something that I never would have expected when I started taking photos nine years ago,” he says.
Matt says one of the things that initially impacted him most when comparing his life here to that of England, was just how much the sun shines, compelling him to spend as much time outdoors as possible.
“(When I arrived) I’d just graduated from university in multimedia design, so I was looking to be creative but be outside more. Every time I went somewhere new, I was like ‘wow, what an earth, what is this place. The flowers, the trees, the sharp rocks – the colour on them, the patterns the texture. I couldn’t get enough.”
Initially honing his skills in on-theground photography, in 2015 cameras were introduced to drones, transforming Matt’s style to predominately aerial footage.
Pushing his photographs beyond traditional landscape photography, Matt sought to capture the magical essence of the landscape with editing techniques that define his work as dreamscape photography.
“That’s what I’m trying to put across when I show an image, I want it to look like ‘wow, where is this place?’ I want it to have that dreamy element and look like a dreamy location,” Matt says.
“It takes quite a bit of work, there’s quite a lot of work that goes into that on the computer. Just bringing out the light areas and dark areas to add that contrast. And then just lifting the colours so it’s nice and bold.”
Matt says the more remote the location, the better.
“I like to go to new places and find places I’ve never seen and hopefully show other people and they might be inspired to travel there too. With that comes a responsibility to know that you will then be sending people to this location and they might not be as mindful as you.”
Matt says wise words he received from a local Aboriginal authority was it’s important to treat these locations with respect and, when coming across any sacred elements, to report them and refrain from disturbing them.
One of the joys of working in nature, says Matt, is the constant changing of the elements, allowing new perspectives to be captured at any moment.
“I’m really happy to live in Western Australia, I feel really lucky and Broome on top of that has been off the charts good. So, I just want to show people how beautiful it is and all the things you can do here that are nature-based.”
Find Matt showcasing his work at the Broome Markets each Saturday
Visit frommilesaway.com
