Central Australia began on the road…

Written By Paul Foley

In July 2025 I travelled north through the interior of South Australia towards Uluru and Kata Tjuta. The distance became part of the photography.

Long stretches of highway, roadside trees, salt lakes, warning signs and eroded desert formations gradually gave way to some of the most recognisable landscapes in Australia.

The monumental places are here, but I became equally interested in what happened between them.

A road disappearing towards the horizon. A solitary tree beside the Stuart Highway. The strange geological forms of Kanku-Breakaways. The white surface of Lake Hart. And eventually Uluru and Kata Tjuta, changing continually as winter light moved across their surfaces.

Some photographs describe the immense scale of the landscape; others concentrate on a fragment, a tree, a sign or the texture of stone. Together they are less a record of destinations than of looking while travelling through a vast country.

The places were already there. I simply had to notice where to stop.

Paul Foley

Paul Foley is an Australian landscape and fine art photographer who believes a photograph isn't real until you can touch it.

Photography expresses his fascination with light and shadow. His eclectic collection of images reflects an inquisitive nature and constant search for interesting light.

After a 35-year career in commercial photography, Paul now explores the fleeting nature of light, free of the constraints of briefs and corporate mood boards.

Paul has been a finalist in the Galah Regional Photography Prize (2025) and National Photographic Portrait Prize (2011), selected to hang in several 'Mosman 2088' exhibitions and included in group exhibitions in Glasgow, Tokyo, Newcastle and China. He has also had individual and collaborative exhibitions in Sydney and Newcastle.

Paul lives in Newcastle, Australia.

https://www.paulfoley.com.au
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Tidal Script