Jon (Jon Muir), 2008

Jon Muir OAM (b. 1961) is an adventurer and sustainability advocate. Raised in Wollongong, he started climbing full-time as a teenager. Since then, he has gained pioneering solo records in climbing the south side of Mount Everest and traversing the Kedarnarth Peaks, and has travelled alone to the South and North Poles without huskies or mechanised vehicles. In 2000 he paddled a kayak for 52 days along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, living off the natural environment. In 2001 he and his dog Seraphine began a journey from Port Augusta in South Australia to Burketown on the Queensland North Coast. It was his fourth attempt, and Seraphine’s second. Dragging a sled, taking 128 days on foot and covering 2 500 kilometres, upon reaching Burketown Muir became the first person to complete a solo and unassisted walk across the Australian continent. Within a few days of starvation when he arrived, he recorded the events and experiences of the walk – including the death of Seraphine – on his video camera diary. This footage was made into the documentary Alone Across Australia (2003), directed by Muir and Ian Darling. In 2007 he trekked alone to the geographic centre of Australia, losing 30kg on the way. In 2011 he and his wife Suzan travelled 120 kilometres in 24 hours across Lake Eyre, South Australia.

Ian Darling AO is an eminent documentary filmmaker and a philanthropist. Darling spent eight years making the film Suzy and the Simple Man (2016) with Jon and Suzan Muir. This photograph was a finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize in 2009.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2010