Friday, June 19, 2009

Arms And The Man

Ned Kelly, The Trigger-Happy Bushranger

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON


This figure of the infamous bushranger (that’s Aussie-speak for “outlaw”) Ned Kelly stands tall over the Victorian town of Glenrowan and is an integral part of local folklore. During a long interstate drive on Friday 5 June, I pulled off the Hume Highway and literally parked under the statue.

I quickly shot some silhouettes of the famous figure before heading to a local cafe for breakfast. About 45 minutes later, the sun had shifted to my advantage, but I still had to work the angles to get the statue against a patch of blue sky.


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.

36 comments:

Shadow said...

mmmm, great statue....

Brian Miller said...

ominous...but great find!

Daryl said...

Another did you know ... Arms & The Man is the title of a play by G.B. Shaw - Its title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid: "Arma virumque cano" - (and when Husband was still acting, yes, he was an actor) he 'did' that show .. played Bluntschli

Unknown said...

Not at all familiar with this famous outlaw but can say with all honesty...he's scary as hell!

aims said...

Didn't they make a movie about this guy?

James said...

This is an amazing coincidence, I was just watching Ned Kelly the movie staring Mick Jagger on tv five minutes ago. lol. This movie doesn't look as good as the other one that I saw. Thats a really great statue!

Sylvia K said...

Great shots of a scary looking statue -- interesting, one doesn't frequently see statues to outlaws. And the skies are beautiful and a great backdrop!

Have a great weekend, David.

Beth said...

I like the word bushranger. And my new goal for the weekend is to see how many times I can use that word. I'll give you a full report on Monday.

PurestGreen said...

There is something so disturbing about that. Yet, it's one of those things that is so eerie, one can't look away.

Sharon Rose said...

He is a freaky looking guy. I wouldn't like seeing him. He leaves one to wonder, what does his face look like under there?

Akelamalu said...

Why did he wear a bucket on his head? Wouldn't a balaclava have been more comfortable? Great shots David.

Maggie May said...

Not sure I like this statue at all. In fact, I don't! However, it makes a good photo for your post and as usual, you get good photos!

Louise said...

I love the second one.

(And thanks for your kind words/visits during my prolonged break from blogging!)

bowledover said...

Ned Kelly equal to our Robin Hood perhaps but yours would not be seen dead in tights.
Great capture.

Vita Stunder said...

Great! :)

the foto fanatic said...

Stand and deliver! Great!
tff

erin said...

interesting attire the fellow wears. reminds me a wee bit of the giant paul bunyan statue that is located some place (i forget now) in the western part of the u.s.

have a wonderful weekend.

Anne said...

Ohh... I little scaring... from Australia this week.

Nice weekend from Anne in Norway.

Guy D said...

That is outstanding, love these pics.

Have a great weekend.
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Thumbelina said...

Well they are great shots but I am not sure I would like to be that close to him! Imposing statue. Do you know how tall he is? Looks massive.
I got my act together in time and played too!

Jim said...

Good one. Always enjoy seeing Australia's BIG things.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

lv2scpbk said...

That's scary looking especially if you're out late at night.

Luiz Santilli Jr said...

wonderful sky and fantastic blue!
Great post, David!

Luiz

Ananda girl said...

Well he'd scare me if I was Constable Lonigan! (I like that story!)

Great photos of a fun subject.

Enigma said...

Love it. As a firearms enthusiast, I love these shots. Thanks for sharing David1

Gennasus said...

I like the sky in the last one but that is one scary statue!

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

It's funny, but I saw that dude hanging in the local Outback not a week ago! A bad ass...but stupid!

Pseudo said...

I really love that last shot.

♥ Boomer ♥ said...

His helmet/facegear reminds me of The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keaunu Reeves (mispelled no doubt). i wonder if that's where they got the idea? Right there in Australia!

aims said...

After coming back and reading these comments I think a little history about Ned Kelly is needed.

It was a great movie - very moving and very sad.

Eric said...

The first one is very impressive,. well done.

Have a nice SWF

Greetings from NL

Susan at Stony River said...

Oh Lord...it's always so nice to see an Irishman making such a good impression while out in the world. *sigh* ROFL Ok, I'm actually crying. But laughing. I don't know.

cheshire wife said...

I remember going to see Ned Kelly the film with Mick Jagger. I don't remember much about it as I fell asleep but Ned Kelly/Mick Jagger did not look anything like that statue. Perhaps he would have done if he had had a bucket on his head!

Dave Coulter said...

Yikes! Happy SWF!

Unknown said...

That's a pretty impressive statue !!!

One if ol' Ned knew how good he'd look against a bright blue sky :-)

Sohbet said...

mmmm, great statue....