Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When Robyn Davidson and her camels trekked 2700 kilometres across the outback in 1977, it entered the treasure chest of Australian folklore.
It was also a pivotal moment in the career - and life - of Davidson's photographer, Rick Smolan. Chronicling the 26-year-old's journey for National Geographic magazine, he was at various times Davidson's companion, irritant and lover as she traversed the desert from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean.
"It was the most interesting year of my life," Smolan, 66, says today. "This woman was so direct and blunt and fascinating."
Davidson wrote her own book, TRACKS, which has sold a million copies in 18 languages and in 2013 spawned a film of the same name. Smolan last year produced a coffee table book, Inside TRACKS, telling Davidson's story through his collection of original photographs.
Those books, along with never-released, hand-signed photographic prints, are now available in a special bundle for Herald readers. The limited-edition package includes signed copies of both books, the film, the 1978 edition of National Geographic in which the article first appeared, exclusive prints and even some of Smolan's original slides.
"It's the film that was in the camera during the trip, and I think that could be quite historic," he says.
Smolan accompanied Davidson for three months of her nine month odyssey, on five separate occasions. Each time he feared he would not be able to find her, or that she had died. This was in 1977, before mobile phones or GPS. But Indigenous locals would point Smolan in the right direction, or in some cases lead him directly to her.
"[They] always knew where she was," he says. "It never took me more than 24 hours to find her."
Davidson spent much of her nomadic life writing about her travels, including her 1996 book Desert Places about life with the Rabari people of northwest India. Inspired by his love for Australia and the help of then-prime minister Malcolm Fraser, Smolan went on to start his global series A Day in the Life with David Cohen. He and Davidson remain friends.
The limited edition collector's bundle of Tracks is available at SMHshop.com.au/tracks for $900 until November 20.
