Photographer John Elliott on 50 years of photography at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

Fifty years of photographing regional Australian cultural and musical icons, this Toowoomba photographer has dusted off the archives to fill a regional gallery walls with timeless photographs.

Photographer John Elliott and his 50 years of photographer regional Australia. Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

Fifty years of photographing regional and rural Australia, alongside a lifetime spent capturing cultural icons with the likes of Slim Dusty and Dame Edna, John Elliott’s archives have been dusted off from his home in Toowoomba and will soon be on display to the public.

Currently Mr Elliott’s favourite piece of work hangs in the hallway of the gallery and is a series of photographs of Slim Dusty leaving his last show flanked by his drummer on one side and his daughter on the other.

“Slim, his daughter and drummer walk away, and then he’s gone (out of the frame), and that’s a reflection of life,” Mr Elliott said.

“I’m a stickybeak who loves finding out about people, and I don’t photograph anyone I don’t like,” he said.

Photographer John Elliott's 50 years of work will be on display at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery from December 6, 2024. Picture: John Elliott

Describing himself as a storyteller who works on the margins and fringes of society, Mr Elliott’s work echoes a rustic street photography meets social documentary style which blends five decades into a single timeless moment – a moment which could have happened as recent as yesterday.

In fact, one of his most recent photographs is of Silver Pinch Rd in Flagstone, and while it was taken this year, it was the recreation of a searing memory of his 16-year-old self visiting Toowoomba for the first time from his home in Blackall.

“Blackall is flat and we were driving, simply hanging off the side of this road as it climbed the Great Dividing Range,” he said.

“The memory has been there long before the photograph, which flips that maxim of photographs triggering memories, this time the memory triggered the photograph.”

Photographer John Elliott and his 50 years of photographer regional Australia. Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Picture: Christine Schindler

Starting off as a radio broadcaster, Mr Elliott knew he wanted always wanted to be a photographer, and when his dad passed away from a lawn mowing accident, he realised he was meant to be a photographer and should “just stop knocking about and getting distracted”.

The photographs started from then onwards, and the display shows a peep into his past 50 years, from portraits of family and photographer friends, iconic musical legends, a sample of his National Portrait Gallery collection of drovers, stockmen, rodeo riders, fencers from the Thousand Mile Stare exhibition, to more local landscapes, such as Toowoomba’s Japanese Gardens, and snaps of the old Toowoomba Showgrounds on Bridge St (now TAFE Queensland).

The display includes samples of more than 600 visual diaries he has kept over the years.

Almost a true story – 50 years of photography opens at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery at 5.30pm, Friday, December 6 with an artist talk at 11am, Saturday, December 7.

The photographs will remain on display for the next three months.

Photographer John Elliott's 50 years of work will be on display at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery from December 6, 2024. Picture: John Elliott