Stories & Achievements: Gary L’s Story

Gary’s story: from surfer to Surfest photographer

As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, Gary aims for excellence in all that he does, including photography.  Arriving very early for his support shifts at Headstart’s office, Gary is not one to keep anybody waiting. We spent some time with Gary to find out what makes him tick.

“I normally have a sudoku book with me while waiting for Mike (community support worker) to arrive. I get there early and I do that. The same with my surfing events, I like to get there early. That’s another thing the neurosurgeon said to me was ‘keep doing them’. I enjoy them.

I’m always doing sudoku or a crossword or reading the paper. Before my accident I was a roof tiler and had my own business. The guys I worked with actually used to sing that song “It’s got to be... perfect!” to me while I worked. I’ve always been a bit of a perfectionist I guess. 

I first fell sixteen feet, and spent three months in hospital. I got back up on the roof and fell again ten months later. I was out for 14 days. And when I woke up is in a brace and everything and I thought I’d had a car accident, but apparently I didn’t.

So I had to give the tiling business away. In hospital I had a lot of time sitting in a room playing with my cameras and that’s what started my photography, until then it was more of a hobby. One of the big changes for me was not being able to drive anymore. That was a big thing. 

Late at night in hospital I’d strap myself into those walking machines and get exercising. Doing some tests too they found out that I have a photographic memory, but I think that was there before my accident.

When I got home I thought I was a waste of time for everyone so I tried to commit suicide. But my girlfriend at the time helped me. One of my biggest struggles is with memory, I can go watch a movie, but I found, unless there’s something emotional in it, I won’t remember it. I’ve also lost all my sense of smell and taste. 

“If I get my head in the wrong spot I pass out, so I just couldn’t surf, at least not how I want to surf.  Now I do photography for Surfest which is a range of events, the Lake Mac City Junior Pro, and another heap of events. I love photographing surfers, but to me that’s no challenge anymore. So somebody said I should go and photograph Brackets and Jam, a music event, and then new things took off from there. 

Then I started doing photos for centre management at The Entrance, so they pay me to shoot events like Chromefest with hot rods and after a couple of events of doing that I started photographing the girls from Pin-Up Dolls and also dancers.

I like working on the photos too and trying new things. I said to my support worker, Mike ‘I want to know if you can get a photo and do it like you’re looking in a kaleidoscope.’ So he looked it up and worked it out and he wrote it down for me, plus lots of other effects. I like to work on photos until they are just how I want them. I think it’s the perfectionist in me. 

Mike’s pretty patient. I like to come into Headstart early so that when he walks in I’m ready to make the most of my three hours. That’s how I did my business for years.  Besides the computer and photoshop work, Mike helps me with my emails and writing letters and things. Headstart is all part of my daily life now, I’m glad my doctor down at Wallsend mentioned Headstart, I’d be lost without it.”

“I like getting out and about, but unless I’ve got somewhere to go, I don’t bother.  So it’s good to have something to do. I do all the Christmas parties and other events for Headstart, all voluntary. I really enjoying seeing what the guys can do... how far they’ve come.

So over the years I’ve moved from film to digital photography. I’d never even touched a computer but now I can use one. My main goals is to be a full time photographer. “

We want to thank Gary for his photography for Headstart and acknowledge his talent, and we wish Gary every success in future.

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