Stills.

Light at the Edge of the World.

 Artist statement:

Marty Blumen on the trail of mani stones, emblazoned with the prayer Om Mani Padme Hum, that the Dali Lama translates as “transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech and mind of a Buddha.”, Solukhumbu, Nepal. (2010)

 

I have been seeking the light now for over two decades and hope you will enjoy this selection of images.

Background:

In the uninspiring urban landscape of 1990s Brisbane, our small group of misfit school friends sought escape. With money scraped together from paper routes and pocket change, we borrowed our school’s climbing rope and spent nights loitering, and learning, at Kangaroo Point. This floodlit quarry, perched across from the humid, subtropical river city, became our own climbing mecca.

Our explorations soon expanded, scrambling overgrown road-cut rocks, scaling sandstone bridge pylons, and taking endless inter-urban train rides to the Glasshouse Mountains, a wild and largely unexplored playground just 60 kilometers north. Those early adventures shaped a lifelong pursuit of exploration.

From bike touring through the dramatic karst landscapes of Yangshuo, climbing Europe's limestone walls and North America's Yosemite Valley, to crawling through Tasmania’s underground caves, the wild places of the world continue to inspire me. And while camera phones are convenient, nothing captures light at the edge of the world like a DSLR.

Select influencers and phantom mentors:

Deep Play by Paul Pritchard, Inner Game of Outdoor Photography by Galen Rowell. Light at the Edge of the World by Wade Davis, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman, Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chounaird, The Last Place on Earth by Nick Nichols.

Marty Blumen, March 2022.

 

 Gallery