Author Archives: Ursula

Ever since my brother gave me my first camera just before my first major overseas adventure (a very long, long time ago), I have loved traveling and loved taking pictures. It's only recently, however, that I've been able to really indulge my passion for both. Living in Bangkok for many years gave me access to some wonderful photographic teachers and mentors, as well as allowing me opportunities for travel that I'd not had before. Although I've moved back to Australia, I am still traveling a fair bit - and I'm loving every minute of it!

When I was young, I had a book with pictures of children around the world in their traditional National Costumes. I found the concept difficult to understand, given that where I lived, people dressed differently from each other, and fashion trends changed with every season. I find it even more remarkable, these countless years later, […]

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‘My father says there has been a rainforest here for over a hundred million years.’ So begins the stunningly beautiful children’s book Where The Forest Meets The Sea by Jeannie Baker. This picture book about the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland is illustrated entirely in sumptuous mixed-media collages that live in one’s memory long […]

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The Ancient Egyptians had a complex religious system which pivoted around their belief in immortality. They saw death as a temporary interruption to life, rather than as an endpoint. But, there were several catches: the form of one’s afterlife depended on one’s social status in this life; ensuring eternal life required paying appropriate homage to the various gods; and […]

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When ever I think of Sri Lanka, I think of water: lotus and lily ponds, flooded rice paddies, dams and reservoirs, and rain. Lots of rain. I was travelling solo on a trip that had been originally planned for two, and although it was November, the south-western monsoon clearly didn’t realise it was meant to […]

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I don’t know how many of Papua New Guinea’s more than 7000 different cultural groups live in the wide, fertile valleys and surrounding mountainous jungles of the Highlands in the country’s interior, but there are a lot! The Highlands were first populated about 50,000 years ago by nomadic foragers. By 10,000 years ago, people were […]

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