The Opal Byway - Rachael Maude

30 September - 16 October 2022

M16 Artspace

The Opal Byway is an analogue photo essay which explores the unique experience of life in the remote opal mining community of Yowah, South West Queensland. During a trip to the annual Yowah Opal Festival back in 2018, Rachael Maude became fascinated with the unconventional lifestyle of local residents and saw a special opportunity to capture an intimate view of their work and daily life. The journey to Yowah takes you along a road called The Opal Byway which connects a collection of small opal mining communities like Quilpie and Eromanga. You don’t pass through Yowah; you have to be aiming for it. The town is located inside a vast cattle station at the end of a dead-end road. Services are minimal - the nearest hospital and police station are 158km away. The town’s water comes straight out of the ground from Artesian Basin and power outages of several days can occur in the summer months. Opal mining has long attracted non-conformers and outliers. In the opal fields you can encounter every kind of person, each with a compelling story about how they came to be there. This body of work aims to introduce the viewer to the individual experience of this isolated and eccentric community.

All images courtesy Fiona Little.