Impossible to avoid thoughts of either JG Ballard or various apocalyptic horror and science fiction scenarios when looking at these photos of Sydney, Australia, taken a few hours ago. A cloud of red dust passed over the city in the early morning and the depopulated views only add to the eerie atmosphere. These are from a Red Dust Flickr gallery. The Other Andrew writes about the inundation on his blog. I’m looking forward now to the reaction of another Sydney Melbourne resident, Simon Sellars, who runs Ballardian.
Update: The Red Sydney Project—Dust Storm Days
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Apocalypse now
and its been pretty dusty here in Brisbane today too … lovely orange haze around lunchtime but now moving towards sunset, we’re moving to shades of salmon pink …
One day all the world will look like this.
Ah, looks amazing, John — and I wish I could comment further, but I actually live in Melbourne, not Sydney as you state!
my home town getting the dusty treatment :
http://tinyurl.com/nlw9nj
It really was freaky waking just after dawn to that martian outlook. I expected to see flames and palls of smoke on the horizon from an early bushfire season. We are all Broken Hill now.
Ha, I should have double-checked, Simon!
Brisbane looks strangely murky, like a David Fincher film. Any future apocalypse will be lovingly documented before it consumes the world.
Great photos! I almost wish I’d been in Sydney for the show – but then again, thinking back to the time Melbourne got inundated with dust back in the 80s, I’m glad I wasn’t. I do recall how eerie and end of the worldish it was at that time.