Just Jack
Jack Thompson is the quintessential Aussie bloke who Andrew Denton once described as “A man who could sink 10 beers, save you in a fight, shear your sheep, shag your missus behind your back, talk philosophy at 4am, cry on your shoulder and then laugh about all of it the next day.”
One of these 4am ‘philosophy chats’ might be about the ‘living ground’ a simple line from a poem that inspired the establishment of the Jack Thompson Foundation, a project that encourages indigenous communities to again turn to the ‘living ground’ to provide for their shelter.
Mandawuy and Galarrwuy Yunupingu invited Jack to be the only non-indigenous board member of the Garma Festival, he responded to Manda “I’m onto you, mate. This is not just an honour – it’s a bloody job.”
Recently I photographed Jack for a Portrait Competition in a style inspired by vintage photos of old indigenous elders. He wore his traditional headband that he received when he was adopted into the Gumatch Clan by the Yolngu elders in Northeast Arnhem land.
The shot had to be scheduled immediately as Jack was about to cut his hair and beard for a role in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. I only had a few hours notice and needed to source a kangaroo skin! After a few manic hours I eventually arrived at Jack’s house with a huge bag filled with my friends Grandmothers fur coats and my neighbours massive cowhide. The cowhide made the shot on the day and Jack was kind enough to sign the faux roo skin.
Be sure to check Jack out in Dylan Thomas’s beautifully poetic radio-turned-stage-play, Under Milk Wood, directed by Andrew Upton at the Sydney Opera House.
Click here to see more shots of Jack.
Commenting is closed for this article.