Coral Carter: KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE and Kalgoorlie 2010

Forrest Street by Coral Carter

Coral Carter is well known for her active association with Mulla Mulla Press but she also has an intensive photographic practice concerned with the everyday environment that she lives in. She produced two books for the Western Australian Photographic Book Survey.

Forrest Street by Coral Carter

Kalgoorlie 2010 is a  self produced/self published wire bound book of 51 ink jet black and white photographs with captions taken in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

 As I was born in Kalgoorlie and lived here until my mid teens I was excited to return to live in 2010. I loved that some of the buildings and houses had not changed at all, some houses unaltered and even still painted the same colour. I chose to live in an older part of town close to where I grew up and featured everything I loved about Kalgoorlie, gum lined, gridded wide streets, and back lanes. My daily exercise regime became a walk through the streets of my Goldfield’s childhood. As I walked I revisited my past, photographing as I went. In an era where people were just beginning to own a family car, walking was how my cousins and I went to school, the pictures, friends and relations houses and the bush. I chose black and white as that was the box Brownie format of my childhood. I think black and white added to the nostalgia.

KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE
KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE is a handfolded A4 sheet in the form of an 8 page booklet with photographs of Kalgoorlie Western Australia. Published by Mulla Mulla Press in November 2010 it is available in an limited edition of 100.

The corrugated iron on the cover is a ubiquitous building material of the Goldfields and feature of back lanes in the older parts of town. The lane was the domain of the dunny man and the rubbish man. Dunnies backed onto the lanes with a wooden flap for the pan to be taken and emptied into the dunny cart. School kids may be dared to lift the wooden hatch to see if any bottoms were to be seen. I did not see one but there were kids who swore they had.

The photograph ‘the dunny’ features the new water flushing toilets which were built the mid fifties, concrete with a neat curved roof they replaced the spider infested corrugated backyard dunnies and although still outside were much closer to the house, more comfortable and certainly smelled sweeter.. The dunny pictured is in my yard, still works and offers a nice view.

The title of this work is a quote from an Allan Boyd Kalgoorlie Poem

the dunny by Coral Carter

Carter’s photography can be seen at www.rubbishphotographer.blogspot.com (photographs often of rubbish discarded from households and industry found in the bush in the Goldfields) http://sky-porn.blogspot.com.au (a daily photograph of the sky where ever I happen to be) and www.365daysofsky.blogspot.com.

3 comments

  1. G’day Coral
    I’m currently writing a novel, historical fiction set in Kalgoorlie in 1948. It’s a sequel to Copyboy, set in Perth in 1946. An important character in Gold Scoop, the sequel, is a night cart driver, Blisters, but for the plot to work he has to be working during the day. I’ve had no success in finding out whether there was a day shift for the night cart drivers. I was told last week that in Perth the pans were collected during the day (day carts!). Are you able to help or do you know anyone in Kal who remembers these days and this sort of detail?
    I believe that good historical fiction only works when there is accuracy to detail. I plan another visit to Kal around August by which time I will be well into the story and will be more aware of what other material and detail is needed to provide atmosphere and detail. It would be great if we could catch up and chat then. Meanwhile the pans have to be collected and I don’t know when Blisters can do this.

    Cheers
    Barrie

    1. Hi Barrie
      I no longer live in Kalgoorlie but as I grew up there and remember the dunny man as he was known and I can say he came in the daytime, hoisting the pan on his shoulders. There is a brilliant Historical Society in Kalgoorlie and I am sure they would be able to give you any other details you may need look up this link http://www.kalgoorliehistory.org.au/. They also have a Facebook page.
      If you need to contact me my email is coralacarter@gmail.com

      All the best with your book.

      Coral Carter

  2. Hi Barrie
    I no longer live in Kalgoorlie but as I grew up there and remember the dunny man as he was known and I can say he came in the daytime, hoisting the pan on his shoulders. There is a brilliant Historical Society in Kalgoorlie and I am sure they would be able to give you any other details you may need look up this link http://www.kalgoorliehistory.org.au/. They also have a Facebook page.
    If you need to contact me my email is coralacarter@gmail.com

    All the best with your book.

    Coral Carter

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