Every Picture Tells a Story

Doug Thost’s beautiful detail shot gave us the cover of the 2015 ANMM International Wooden Boat Symposium brochure

There’s nothing like a good photograph to tell a story and over the years, there’s been many a story to come out of the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival.  In fact, that is one of the greatest assets we’ve got – a wonderful searchable library of stunning photography collected by the AWBF’s amazing cohort of professional and semi-pro photographers.  You can have a look at the catalogue HERE courtesy of tireless work by Photography Manager Rob Oates (who gave us the hugely popular feature image for this article) to tag and catalogue tens of thousands of images in the AWBF archive.  At each festival, as many as 40 volunteer photographers set out on a mission to capture every aspect of this sprawling event, over four days and 1.2 kilometres of waterfront.  The results speak for themselves and have helped carry the message about their remarkable event all around the world.

US photographer Ben Mendlowitz joined us in 2017 to capture images for his celebrated Calendar of Wooden Boats

Rob’s own business, as a travel photojournalist and professional photographer, is Ballantyne Photography.  Rob makes a special effort to travel to Hobart for every festival, riding his trusty (and often dusty) 1200cc BMW motorcycle on and off the Spirit of Tasmania.  When he gets here, he hooks up with the Hobart Photographic Society to plan the meticulous operation.

In 2019, we’ll be taking a retrospective view of that extraordinary collection of images, looking for the best of the best for a thrilling exhibition at the Brooke Street Pier.  There will be prizes awarded by an expert panel of judges and, it’s rumoured, an important new sponsorship from a national company that may be able to help you see these stunning pictures a little bit better.  The contest will be open to both amateur and professional photographers and all images remain the property of the photographer for copyright purposes .  We’ll be announcing terms and conditions for the competition in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, have a look through your collection for the best image you have ever captured at the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival.  We’ll be looking all the way back to the first festival in 1994, so nothing is out of the running.

Yukon and Mallana, battle in 30 knot winds and 2 metre seas during the Historic Ketch Review, at the 2015 MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival
Photo courtesy of Rob Oates | BALLANTYNE Photography