Lake Burley Griffin by Kayakcameraman, as it appeared on 12 August 2024. Photo: Paul Jurak.
Do you want to know what the sunrise over Lake Burley Griffin looked like on this day in 2014?
Chances are, Paul Jurak is your man.
Perhaps better known as ‘Kayakcameraman’, the plumber turned photographer has captured more than 100,000 photos of Canberra’s jewel in the crown from his red kayak, ‘Red Chilli’, since 2010.
It’s enough for his website to have been archived by the National Library of Australia, and the photos, shared “fresh from the day”, to have attracted thousands of followers to his social media pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
And yes, although he doesn’t “push it” per se, the photos are for sale and he often receives requests for sunsets or sunrises on particular days for birthday or anniversary presents.
So ever since Paul’s daily paddles came to an end when he and his family up and left for Newcastle in 2021, he’s been sorely missed.
Well, there’s good news. He’s back in Canberra and in the Red Chilli for at least several days a month.
Another of Paul’s photos from 12 August, 2024. Photo: Paul Jurak.
A plumber and gasfitter by trade, Paul moved from Newcastle to Canberra in 1988 to spend more time with his then-girlfriend (now wife) Julie.
He has worked jobs at the National Gallery of Australia, Telstra Tower and the Canberra Hospital over the years, and more recently, taught at the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) campus in Fyshwick.
Paul Jurak was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. Photo: Paul Jurak.
The work was busy, and as three kids came along, family life became busy, too. Then came 2010, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and subject to bouts of chemotherapy that left his body “stripped pretty raw”.
“I was sitting in the chair at the hospital when I saw an advertisement for kayaks,” he says.
“I hadn’t ever kayaked before, but I went to a store and bought one. I couldn’t paddle, but I started as a way to rebuild myself physically.”
Paul’s photo of his son, Tully, on Lake Burley Griffin. Photo: Paul Jurak.
As his strength returned, the physical aspect gradually flipped to the mental, and paddling on the lake became a near-daily “form of meditation”.
“There was no plan – the most enjoyable part was just going for a float,” he says.
One day, by chance, he snapped a photo while out paddling with his son, Tully, and the rest was history.
“I started taking more photos while I was paddling, and my friend and journalist, Emma Macdonald, encouraged me to take it further. I continued to take photos of the lake, and then I did a blog-writing course at CIT, and the ‘Kayakcameraman’ was born.”
It reached the point he would be out on the lake 250 days of the year, and connecting with people on the other side of the camera too.
“People would write to me, and the nicest things are from those who, through age or disability, can’t get out and see Canberra or the lake anymore, and say ‘thank you so much – you’re providing a connection for me’,” Paul says.
He, together with Julie and their youngest son Louis, left Canberra to renovate their house in Crescent Head near Port Macquarie in 2021. He has continued to visit Canberra once a term as part of his job at CIT, but never for long enough to justify bringing the kayak.
Paul says the light shows Canberra is treated to are unlike any other he’s seen. Photo: Paul Jurak.
However, with the house now done, he’s extended his visits to two weeks at a time and was back on the lake for the first time in years this week, sharing fresh photos.
“I don’t know what it is about Canberra – maybe the elevation of 600 metres above sea level – but I have seen that many amazing light shows in the mornings and afternoons … it sometimes feels like I’m in a painting. It really is quite unique.”
You can follow Paul’s adventures in the Red Chilli on his Kayakcameraman blog.
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