Port Stephens odd couple Henk Tobbe and John 'Stinker' Clarke have paired up again to produce a book and a series of photos that tell the story of the history of Nelson Bay and surrounds.
One half of the couple, Henk Tobbe, is described by his collaborator Stinker as 'a perfectionist' and a' genius'. The other half of the duo has an insatiable desire for stories and photos from old timers.
Together they are finding and polishing up historic photographs from the personal collections of 'old time' Port Stephens residents, and sharing them online and in print.
"He is everything I'm not," says Stinker, "I'm as rough as bags; I can go out and collect the raw materials, but when it comes to polishing it up and presenting it, I really need him."
"He is very interested in history," says Henk Tobbe, "has a lot of old photographs, and he needs them to be processed a little bit, before they can be published in his books."
Stinker Clarke will launch his book Oyster Men at the ABC Shop at Charlestown on Saturday, October 26.
But first he will deliver a talk at Newcastle's Lovett Gallery, on Wednesday, September 11, 10.30am, during the Now and Then photography exhibition.
Now and Then is a national photography project with a twist, where participants take an old photo back to the original location, line up the background and create an image that looks like a window into the past.
As a by-product of his collaborations with Stinker, photographer Henk Tobbe has started contributing to the Now and Then project, creating some stunning shots from around Port Stephens.
"A couple of days ago I laid my hands on a very old shot, probably 1950s or earlier, of Boat Harbour Beach," Henk said.
"I could locate the original point of view, so I went there and took a shot and merged both and it came out quite well."
"You see the old-fashioned umbrellas on the beach, and on the right-hand side the modern buildings (and) the new houses that were built there, only about five or six years ago, since they started developing that beach."
"Another one I got was of Stockton Street in Nelson Bay, a scene from close to the Seabreeze Hotel. In it you see the hill in the distance where, now there is a bowling club located there, and the landmark and other buildings. And I managed to blend it in nicely with its new environment so yes, it's fun to do these things."
As a method of telling a story about the past and how things have changed, Henk says it's most effective when you have a handle on both the technical and historical aspects of creating the image.
"You need to have some photographic experience, to find the right settings for your camera to take the shot, that comes closest to what it was in the past," he said.
"You've got to analyse that photo first - and that's the technical side of it - just fun being busy with your camera."
"The other thing is it makes you think about the past and look into it, to try and find out what the situation is 50 or sometimes even 100 years ago, so you've really got to read up on it and make sure that what you're projecting is the true thing."
He said the best candidates for the historical part of a Now and Then photograph is one that has the best potential to show contrast.
"I've got a couple of shots where hardly anything had changed, so it was not really worthwhile projecting the one on top of the other," Henk said.
"But in some situations, like the Stockton Street in Nelson Bay or the Foreshore where we now have the marina and the fishery buildings, there things have changed a lot.
"That makes an interesting comparison, and enables people to look back and see how things have developed."
Out of the eight Now and Then images he's created so far, Henk's favourites are the images of Tea Gardens and Shoal Bay.
"I think the Tea Gardens one is the favourite, because that shows best how things have changed," Henk says.
"But there's another one of Victoria Street/Government Road near the Seabreeze Hotel where I let the pedestrian bridge fade out to nothingness, and then you see the old situation.
"Those two are my favourite and I'm still looking for new opportunities,"
Visitors to the Lovett Gallery will have an opportunity to see Now and Then images from all over Australia, including the Hunter, as well as a talk from Stinker Clarke on Wednesday, September 11.
"What they'll see is old black and white photos that I've collected over the last 15 to 20 years and photos that I think probably would have ended up on the dump," Stinker said.
"Old people are desperate to find someone to tell to tell their story to, their grandchildren won't listen, they're always in too much of a hurry, so when I turned up at their door and say I'd like to hear your story, well the old shepherd's hook comes out and pulls me into the house,"
"They sit me down to a cup of tea and out comes the albums and we spend hours and hours just talking about their lives."
"That's how I started with Broughton Islanders and that led to Old Salt and that's now led to Oyster Men.
"They're all really based on pioneering stories of those who originated here or settled here in Port Stephens."
The Now and Then photography exhibition is on at the Newcastle City Library's Lovett Gallery, Laman Street, Newcastle, (2nd Floor), until October 6. Gallery Hours are Monday-Wednesday (9.30am-8.00pm) Thursday and Friday (9.30am-5.00pm) and Saturdays (9.30am-2.00pm).
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