Gordon Traill
Army, Photographer - Painter
“When I grow up, I’m going to be a soldier just like my dad and my big brother,” declared Gordon, as a small boy who loved playing with his army toys.
Gordon’s childhood evolved from solitary play into a strong love of football and cricket, with all the struggles and rewards that come with being part of a team. Without realising it, his childhood was preparing him for his enlistment into the Australian Defence Force, at 19.
“This is where I belong,” he said, upon enlisting.
His army mates became his new ‘team’ as they looked out for each other, socialised together and were taught how to deal with both physical and mental conflicts. Gordon’s military career totalled 28 years, mostly as a chef in the Infantry.
Unfortunately, Gordon discovered that his military support networks eventually weren’t enough. Upon returning to Australia from a deployment to Iraq, life as he knew it evaporated in front of his eyes. He was medically discharged, diagnosed with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“There would be no more playing with big boys’ toys.”
Now, Gordon’s support team became his family. His wife, Shona, became his friend, psychologist, his manager and, when needed, his Commanding Officer. She told him, very firmly, that he needed to find something to replace the passion he had for the army. So Gordon picked up a camera.
Over time his skills were honed, and he became well known as the photographer for the book The Victoria Cross - Australia Remembers, and co-author and photographer of Unconquered - Our Wounded Warriors about the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018.
Becoming an Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM) mentor, his photography was exhibited twice by ANVAM. Firstly it was exhibited in their inaugural exhibition in Melbourne in 2017 and then later at Parliament House, Canberra, in 2018. His photos were shortlisted for the Napier-Waller Art Prize at the Australian War Memorial in 2018, where he was also a finalist in 2019 and 2022.
Gordon’s 2022 portrait, Ricky, was taken at a community lunch in Geelong. Ricky had admitted that he didn’t have a photo of himself and would really like one. When Gordon later gave him a copy of the image, he thanked him with a tear in his eye.
“I had a real connection to Ricky as I asked him to stare straight down the barrel of the lens.”
Looking at life through the camera lens opened a new perspective for Gordon and it was a natural transition from this to canvas. On finishing a self-portrait of his experiences in Iraq, he put down his brush and declared, “Now, I can put those memories away. I’m finished with it.”
Rather than being ‘finished with it’, however, painting became a new beginning for Gordon. He began by gathering discarded artworks to use as canvases. One, an oil painting of a dark, Scottish sky that, upon sanding over, opened his eyes to a different beauty as the new work quietly came through the shadows. His joy is in the creating, rather than the result.
When he talks about his passion for the creative arts, Gordon becomes charged with joy and emotion. He’s alive. His creative gift is dynamic and ever evolving.
Without formal training, his creative mind is an empty canvas and Gordon marvels at artists such as veteran Sidney Nolan and Margaret Olley, whom he finds inspirational. He’s become hungry for learning new ways to create with oils, acrylics and watercolours. He experiments in colours and loves the geometric shapes of Cubism.
“I like asking questions - especially of artists. It opens up new ways for me.”
He paints every day in his home studio, where he has three or four paintings in progress at any time.
“It gives me peace. I can be lost for hours. Time just goes! I know that it makes me enjoy life.”
Gordon looks back at his first, hesitant watercolour paintings and reflects on his artistic journey.
“My art is always a work in progress. You have to start somewhere. It’s something I can keep working on and improving.”
This compassionate, creative man has worked through many challenges with the help of family and friends and now, his art.
“I wouldn’t change a thing. It has led me to where I am.”
@gordontraillphotography
