After Yasi Blog Tour - Finding the Smile with June Perkins
Living in a land which boasts as many natural disasters as natural wonders, can result in the worst of times and perversely, the best of times. Ex-resident of Far North Queensland's Cassowary Coast, June Perkins, is no stranger to both phenomena.
After Yasi distills the stubborn tenacity and resilience of neighbours and friends, loved ones and indeed the entire community into a stirring visual tribute of them struggling to regain normality after an acutely abnormal interruption to their lives.
Instead of being a somber exposition of loss and destruction, After Yasi allows hope to permeate through every page thanks to the simple, heart-felt recollections of those who survived it first hand and Perkin's unerring ability to capture offbeat and spiritual moments on film.
Today we discover more about the lady behind the radiant smile and how she crafted this beautiful tale of resilience.
Welcome to Dim's Write Stuff June.
Who is June Perkins? Describe your artistic self.
I’d describe myself as
optimistic, searching, caring about community and family, working across genres
and open to creative experimentation.
After Yasi centres on the journey of recovery post a
traumatic event. Why was it important for you to capture and record this
journey?
It was a way of
contributing to the wider community recovery using creative, emotional and
imaginative resources I already used in everyday life but that I could put at
the service of others.
I wanted to capture
the event and process of recovering afterwards in a way that led you into the
situation of after the cyclone gently and subtly, even though the reality of it
was physically, socially and economically traumatic for people. It was important to cover it in a way that
wasn’t the same as newspaper or historical society type coverage but was more about how
people’s hearts are affected and healed after such an event.
I wanted to use an e-format
to make if affordable to view the colour photographs and encourage people to
look at the online blogs, and films as well as experience that text and images
of the book.
What message are you trying to convey?
That the recovery from
trauma can be enhanced in so many ways but the artist/writer/musician can play
a unique role in that process. Everyone
has their own way of recovering and growing from an experience like this too
and I wanted to capture that diversity – so gardening and sport are in there
too. Individuals and communities can
create initiatives that make a difference to people going through recovery and
these can draw on their own unique talents.
I have been
particularly moved by a friend Melinda who has gone onto help others in
Philippines, (using music and her other talents with business mentoring) who
have been through cyclones and me and others from that area want to find ways
to assist with or collaborate with her as she does this work.
What do you enjoy more, capturing visual and emotional moments
on film or in stories with words?
In the process of
After Yasi I developed a great love for short documentary and would like to
pursue this more in the future. I still
love writing but film is a very powerful medium because people forward speak
for themselves. I am amazed at how
accessible this form is, with the rise of digital SLRs which also capture video
and cheap editing programs.
The desire to make a
film can make it happen once you have a few basic skills, and ABC Open helped
me a lot with gaining confidence to just go for it. It’s not about having expensive equipment
it’s about respecting and understanding your
subject and making sure you collect your sound and visuals well enough that
someone can watch it and become engaged in the story you discover.
I loved making the
short film with Pam and Joe Galeano as I could capture their personality quite
differently to a paper account.
They were both so
relaxed and natural as they shared their stories of the same cyclone
night. I screened portions of this film
at a presentation at the Queensland Museum and it was cool hearing people laugh
because the relationship with Pam and Joe came through so strongly in the
piece. He was trying to look after the
farm and she just wanted him to be safe.
I edited them speaking the same event alternating and it was actually
quite humorous, even though the event was quite heavy.
I would definitely
return to visit people or undertake some sort of creative project but am not
sure I would return there to live. Part
of that is the climate doesn’t completely suit an ongoing chronic health
condition I have.
We’d been thinking
about leaving before the cyclone for my children’s opportunities to study in
the city and because I was finding it hard to secure regular work but we ended
up staying to assist in the recovery process.
My husband was a local school teacher very concerned for the well- being
of his students doing year 12 in the year the cyclone struck. He didn’t want us just to abandon ship, leave
and get on with our lives in another place.
Many people simply
couldn’t stay after the cyclone, and leaving worked well for them but I am glad
we stayed though as we had people who knew what we had been through all around
us and we could support each other in the recovery process. I think we may have been even more traumatised
had we moved away and not seen the community in a much happier place.
What remains in our
hearts always is the strong sense of community.
Since we left we have had visitors from the area catch up with us in our
new home. They are now family.
I began with
interviewing people I knew quite well, and gradually that became people I
didn’t know very well or at all. I
didn’t specifically ask them to relive their ordeal, but more to tell me about
the photograph that I captured them in.
This was usually a community recovery event like a concert or clearing
their yard with a chainsaw -all proactive attempts to get on with life.
 | |
| Out of cyclone rubbish, I made an anchor ~ Christine Jenkins |
I particularly enjoyed
interviewing my youngest son, who was keen to have his own digital story of
what we went through during the cyclone, that will be a precious family
keepsake.
Has Yasi heightened your fear of cyclones and natural
disasters or reinforced your ability to deal with whatever life throws at you?
The biggest thing
cyclone Yasi did for me was to teach me you just have to go for it in life and
live your dreams, care about others and never ever give up if you have to make
a change. Good things will nearly always
come out of challenges if you are determined.
In my case it was developing online stories and films for ABC Open and
making many close friends I might never have had.
I certainly feel compassion
for anyone in the world when I hear of cyclone warnings know the potentialities
of what can happen. But I’ve learnt whilst you can’t always control if a
natural disaster will come your way you can control how you respond to it.
I might not now live
near a cyclone area, but the Brisbane storms can get pretty interesting. I had some friends say to me after the last severe
one (their house and whole suburb was extensively damaged and they were out
driving in it to get home.) .‘Wow we just had a small taste of what you went
through. Now we think we really
understand.’ I felt pretty calm through
it all as it wasn’t as scary as the cyclone we had been through, but was a bit
concerned as my son and his Dad were trying to get home from cricket training.
They have a copy of my
book and have read it and many of my online works. – I hope my book made it a
lot easier for them as it mostly covers the time after you have been through
something like this.
There are many in the
world still recovering decades after events, as the tsunami ten years on
accounts show, and they went through far more than the people of the Cassowary
Coast. Yet, even out of this disaster have
come some amazingly optimistic and inspiring stories, such as some orphans of
that event now doing work to fund orphanages in tribute to the locals who
helped them find their way home. Having
a hope and strength but also being allowed to grieve what you lost is important
in all recovery from trauma.
After Yasi, what’s next for June?
I’d like keep telling
stories through film, photography and writing.
I am looking for stories that pull at my heart strings and motivate me
and others to become even more caring to others. I’d like to become better and better at this
by working on the crafts and meeting some people who live these stories. I
might even take some courses to learn more about sound editing and production.
I am interested in
writing and creating things for a children and young adults audience and am
working on these skills as well.
Now more than anything
I’d like to gain or create regular work or that can not only help me contribute
to society but to my family’s economic well-being (and pay for an insurance
policy). It’s important to look after
your own family as well as the community and not do one thing at the expense of
another.
Wise words. Thanks June for your beautifully considered insights. I for one look forward to reading and viewing more of your work. If you feel the same way, stick around for the rest of the After Yasi tour. Have you endured a traumatic event and emerged a more resilient person because of it? We'd love to hear your story, please leave a comment or two.
Best comments for
each blog will be given special prizes, either a free copy of the ebook or a
choice of a signed print of one of the photographs from the book.
The After Yasi Blog Tour
includes visits to:
January 27 (Tuesday) Karen Tyrrell http://www.karentyrrell.com/
Jan 30 Jedda
Bradley– interview https://www.facebook.com/jeddabradleyartist
Jan 31 (Saturday) Gail Kavanagh (review) http://gailkavanagh.com/blog/
Feb 1 (Sunday)Owen
Allen Place Stories http://owen59.wordpress.com/
Feb 3 (Tuesday) ABC Open (to be
confirmed) http://open.abc.net.auFeb 3 Melinda Irvine (interview) http://businessonblue.com.au/
Feb 4 (Wed) wrap up and thankyou blog from June https://pearlz.wordpress.com
You can find sample pages of
the ebook here:
And purchase the book
here:
Feel
most welcome to attend from wherever you are in the world, the online launch
February 3rd
Comments
Just loved reading your insightful interview here.
And getting to understand what drives you.
Thanks Dimity...
Cheers,
Karen :)