A Real Aussie Summer

A real Aussie beach – from Australian Elle magazine, Jan 1999, ph Hugh Stewart

This is my homage to the glorious Australian summer of blue sun and sea and white, white sand, and endless memories of childhoods spent running round bare-legged and free. A terrible drought tortured the country for a decade, ending only recently, and every summer the countryside rages with fires (right now in fact, in country Victoria and Tasmania) and it is water we respect, hoard and hold dear – a fairdinkum Aussie won’t leave the tap running while they brush their teeth! We flock to the beach if we can, or the local swimming pool. If all else fails, a sprinkler and a rubber hose or a wading pool in the back yard will do.

Scroll down, sigh nostalgically, and click on images to view larger versions. I have provided credits where they are known. 

OH! That feeling! – from Australian Elle magazine, Jan 1999, ph Hugh StewartThe view from Aussie designer Trent Nathan’s Pittwater, Sydney home; Australian marie-claire, ph Mike NewlingChildhood memories, kids play, from Donna Hay magazine, ph Hugh StewartSummer scenes, Childhood memories, from Donna Hay magazine, ph Hugh StewartOh that rubber hose – only beaten by the summer sprinkler on the lawn; Aussie actress Rachael Ward, from Australian Vogue, ph Graham Shearer Get your body beach-ready, from Australian marie-claire (?), ph DelvesThe beach house, from Australian Vogue, Jan 1991, ph Monty ColesBeach house with a view, from Australian Vogue, Jan 92, ph Richard BaileyEveryone should have a sunbathing deck like this; this picture is just one of a 30-page fashion editorial from Australian Vogue, Jan 1992, ph Monty ColesSummer sets you free; Country Road advertisementBeach shack; the Hipstamatic Bondi HipstaPak was inspired by this Aussie photographer, Ben Watts Hurtling down the dunes, from Australian Elle, Jan 1998, ph Grey ZisserThat inimitable sound as you plunge into a pool of water, ph Walter Rambaldini