Taxi Driver's Daughter
'No way! I won't do it! You don't arrange dates for me'
My father insisted. I dug my heels in and would not budge.
'No!!'
I was busy studying; I didn't know the girl and it too far to travel. But my main reason for railing was that my father had told me. Seventeen year olds don't do what their father's want. I didn't want Dad arranging my dates, especially blind dates!
I would not go.
I refused point blank.
My Cabbie Dad came home one evening and announced he had arranged for me to accompany the daughter of another taxi driver to a tennis club dance in Nollamara, about 12 miles away.
I was upset my father had taken that liberty without even asking me.
I was 17 - a teenager in revolt.
Dad produced his trump card. I would not be allowed to drive the family car any more. He called my bluff. I gave in. Reluctantly I surrendered. I agreed. I sulked and refused to speak to my father.
A week later I drove the family '37 Chevy to pick up the taxi driver's daughter at number 8, Berrigan Drive, Nollamara. I was dreading the evening ahead.
The moment I caught a glimpse of Marilyn in the family kitchen I changed my mind . She didn't walk. She glided. She didn't talk. She sang. And she ignored me. Suddenly the distance I had just travelled evaoprated.
We spent that summer visiting each other, swimming at Scarborough and taking photographs. We were just two' teenage kids - boty offspring of taxi drivers.
I never saw Marilyn again .... until ....
Forty years went by ........
A chance telephone conversation
Her voice had changed. The little Aussie 'strine' had been replaced by a posh voice with elegant tones
Marilyn was now 56 and I was 57. She was married to a Captain in the Australian navy and I was married and saturated in professional photography.
Marilyn had worked as an air hostess for Ansett, lived in the USA for a few years and started a successful gourmet picnic business 'Posh Picnics. She loved cooking, music and Latin-American dancing.
For my part, I'd taught in primary schools for eight years before joining TAFE and lecturing in Photography. I helped set up a small TVstation in TAFE. At age fifty-two I was made redundant and started my own photography business - teaching photography and shooting portraits and weddings.
Marilyn suggested we run a tour to Singapore to photograph orchids. I thought that sounded a bit mundane. Then she suggested we take a group to Borneo on a wildlife tour to photograph orang utans. She offered to organise teh tour. I thought 'Why not?'
En-route to Borneo we were invited on a VIP tour of the Singapore Zoo and met a beautiful young guide Pamela Wildheart. On the flight from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu Marilyn and I agreed to form a business 'Wildheart Adventures.
Later that year I photographed Marilyn at the Mundaring Weir Hotel in the Darling Range east of Perth. She had visited the Good Samaritans store in Fremantle and bought a recycled dress for $5. The back shot of Marilyn wearing her $5 dress and twinkling the keys on David Helfgott's piano won a Silver Award later that year at the Canon APPA Awards in Melbourne.
She looked a million dollars in a five dollar dress.
In 2004 Marilyn and I joined forces for one of our most ambitious projects - the RSPCA 'Here Boy' Calendar (Men and their Dogs). We toured much of rural Western Australia to shoot the men and their dogs, raising funds for the RSPCA.
oOo
'No way! I won't do it! You don't arrange dates for me'
My father insisted. I dug my heels in and would not budge.
'No!!'
I was busy studying; I didn't know the girl and it too far to travel. But my main reason for railing was that my father had told me. Seventeen year olds don't do what their father's want. I didn't want Dad arranging my dates, especially blind dates!
I would not go.
I refused point blank.
My Cabbie Dad came home one evening and announced he had arranged for me to accompany the daughter of another taxi driver to a tennis club dance in Nollamara, about 12 miles away.
I was upset my father had taken that liberty without even asking me.
I was 17 - a teenager in revolt.
A week later I drove the family '37 Chevy to pick up the taxi driver's daughter at number 8, Berrigan Drive, Nollamara. I was dreading the evening ahead.
The moment I caught a glimpse of Marilyn in the family kitchen I changed my mind . She didn't walk. She glided. She didn't talk. She sang. And she ignored me. Suddenly the distance I had just travelled evaoprated.
We spent that summer visiting each other, swimming at Scarborough and taking photographs. We were just two' teenage kids - boty offspring of taxi drivers.
.jpg) |
| Marilyn December 1961 |
oOo
I never saw Marilyn again .... until ....
Forty years went by ........
A chance telephone conversation
Her voice had changed. The little Aussie 'strine' had been replaced by a posh voice with elegant tones
 |
| Marilyn - Mundaring Weir Hotel 2002 |
Marilyn had worked as an air hostess for Ansett, lived in the USA for a few years and started a successful gourmet picnic business 'Posh Picnics. She loved cooking, music and Latin-American dancing.
For my part, I'd taught in primary schools for eight years before joining TAFE and lecturing in Photography. I helped set up a small TVstation in TAFE. At age fifty-two I was made redundant and started my own photography business - teaching photography and shooting portraits and weddings.
 |
| ''$5 Dress' - Silver Award 2002 APPA Melbourne |
En-route to Borneo we were invited on a VIP tour of the Singapore Zoo and met a beautiful young guide Pamela Wildheart. On the flight from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu Marilyn and I agreed to form a business 'Wildheart Adventures.
Later that year I photographed Marilyn at the Mundaring Weir Hotel in the Darling Range east of Perth. She had visited the Good Samaritans store in Fremantle and bought a recycled dress for $5. The back shot of Marilyn wearing her $5 dress and twinkling the keys on David Helfgott's piano won a Silver Award later that year at the Canon APPA Awards in Melbourne.
She looked a million dollars in a five dollar dress.
In 2004 Marilyn and I joined forces for one of our most ambitious projects - the RSPCA 'Here Boy' Calendar (Men and their Dogs). We toured much of rural Western Australia to shoot the men and their dogs, raising funds for the RSPCA.
oOo
