Herb Wharton AM (b. 1936), Kooma Elder, poet and author, was born at Yumba, an Aboriginal camp near the Queensland town of Cunnamulla. He began writing poetry in his fifties, after a long career as a stockman, drover and labourer. In 1990 he entered several poems in a competition for unpublished Aboriginal writers, and as a result was commissioned to write a novel for the University of Queensland Press. The resulting book, 1992's Unbranded, drew on Wharton's experiences as a stockman in the Australian interior. This was followed by the fictional works Cattle Camp (1994) and Where Ya' Been, Mate? (1996), as well as the autobiography Yumba Days (1999), written during a residency at the Australia Council's Paris studio. A frequent participant in major literary festivals throughout Australia and the world, Wharton's awards include the Australian Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature (2012).
From 2004 to 2005, the National Portrait Gallery held an exhibition of photographer John Elliott's work, Thousand Mile Stare. As Elliott noted of this photograph: 'One of my favourite shots in the show is of the Aboriginal ex-drover and writer, Herb Wharton. I'd never seen Herb without his hat and I asked him to take it off. Herb's a really handsome man and has the most beautiful head of silver hair, so I decided I'd use the shot without his hat.'
Gift of the artist 2005
© John Elliott
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