A mining town can be perceived as a big kid's playground with oversized Tonka trucks and sandpits for the hands of giants. While weary labourers spend their hours suited in hi-vis gear you can only wonder where the younger generations are. The youth of Blackwater are a transient, yet nurtured species. They seek adventure in the half-light of the coal dust and cold dusk. These are their shadow years, finding purpose in the rural, industrial town in which they dwell. They wait their turn. Secluded and suspended, they perform a delicate balancing act between maturity and play. 

Published in Small Towns Project 2014: Blackwater in partnership with Queensland College of Art, Griffith University

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