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25. 09. 09. - 13:00

Aussie lensman brings Melk Abbey into focus

By Thomas Hochwarter

The Australian bush and Austria’s natural world heritage area Wachau may appear to be as far apart in terms of nature as they are geographically, but for an Australian photographer leaving his beloved hometown of Canberra settling in a remote town in Lower Austria was just a logical step.

Austrian Times spoke to Lachlan Blair about his new exhibition, Austrian dialects and the smell of Canberra’s eucalyptus forest.

The 42-year-old said he had fallen in love twice when he first came to Austria in 2000: "I met my Austrian wife here and we decided to travel around the world, but then decided to settle in the Wachau which I also fell in love with.

"I now also have a flat in Vienna but we spend most of our time in our house in Emmersdorf an der Donau because of its ‘connection’ to nature. The landscape is fascinating – I still love at as much as on the first day I saw it. You can experience a change of seasons, which is simply wonderful."

"We have a licence to own and pilot a small wooden boat which we really enjoy. I sometimes take photographs on board as it gives you a different perspective – but we also hold parties on it now and then. It can carry up to 12 people," Blair added.

Blair previously worked as a teacher at the School for Graphic Design and Multimedia in Vienna but quit after two and a half years.

He said: "I was teaching in all of the school’s departments because I had the knowledge. But I didn’t think I was making a difference as a teacher, not just because I haven’t trained as teacher. I realised it was – as they say – just not my cup of tea."

Now Blair is fully focusing on working as a freelance photographer. He admitted it had been a challenge to get a foothold in Austria, but in the end he succeeded.

"Commercial work relies on word of mouth and I was lucky that all of my customers have always been very pleased with my work. This was a good reference for me, of course," he explained.

"But it was hard at the start because I needed to build a network of customers from scratch. And there are a lot of young, very motivated as well as established photographers around in Europe. Things are going well for me now but you have to stay on the ball," he said.

But Blair is outspoken on what he dislikes. Discussing the era of digital photography and what it means for customers, professionals and hobby photographers, he said: "I think the market is over-occupied these days because digital photography has become accessible to everyone.

"A lot of people have the opportunity to provide high quality photos, but it depends whether they have the skills to supply them in a way that is useful and something special."

"At the end of the day it comes down to how a photographer interacts with the subject. And experience will always matter," he said.

Blair has an exhibition at the moment at Melk Abbey in Lower Austria where he created dream-like, magical experiences by using a "photogram" technique.

"I wanted to do a project there for quite some years because the abbey is just so beautiful," he said, adding he liked the fact that its board is very much involved culturally and in fundraising.

"I suggested a theme and they were highly supportive. The building is quite spectacular and historically important," Blair – whose works can be purchased from 750 to 1,400 Euros – said.

But the exhibit at the abbey – which is on until 1 November – is not Blair’s only project in the province of Lower Austria. He proudly said: "I did shoots in 65 Lower Austrian towns in 2004 to show how well the communities recovered from the record flood of 2002 in order to give the region a new boost.

"The images were used in a tourism marketing campaign. I come from landscape photography which I did for more than 20 years, so I really enjoyed this assignment."

Speaking about not so pleasurable tasks, Blair said: "What I don’t like is doing ‘handshake shootings’ as I enjoy my creative freedom. But if someone who is already a client asks me I will do it.

"And I would not want to work in fashion because it is a world of its own and quite challenging. There are some very good fashion photographers around. And I don’t want my pictures to be in a magazine where they are just flicked over," he explained.

Blair admitted he has got no "plan b" to photography. "I just cannot imagine not being busy doing photography," he explained. He added: "The only other profession I could imagine would be working as an architect."

Blair – who studied graphic design in Australia – said he had no plans to leave Austria despite the fact he missed Canberra now and again. "They say you can take the man out of the country but you cannot take the country out of the man," he said, smiling.

"Canberra is known as the ‘bush capital’. Some might say it has no soul but that’s not true. It offers easy access to many beautiful places. I really do miss the bush and the smell of the eucalyptus forest.

"We planned to go back to Australia to live there for a few years but now we are getting more and more settled in the Wachau and would find it hard to leave," he added.

Blair admitted learning German had been a challenge, but now speaks so well some people believe he is Austrian. "People believe I was born here when they speak to me," he revealed. "But I enjoy making fun of all the Austrian dialects and the language’s plays on words," he added.

“Once I was sitting in a pub owned by a friend when one of the pubs regular customers became convinced I came from Styria as well - after having had a few beers. I just said ‘yo, yo’ and he believed me,“ he added, laughing.

- - -

Blair’s "Benedictina nocturna" exhibition is on at Melk Abbey until 1 November. More information is available at www.loxpix.com.

Austrian Times

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1. Kulis on collision course

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