It was a very bad accident. John Davis was travelling back from a coal mine protest in the helicopter of Richard Green and his wife. For some reason, on their way back to Sydney the helicopter crashed in the Wattagan Mountains. All three died in the crash.
I did not know Richard Green, but knew of his magnificent landscape photos. He was also one of the photographers who contributed photos to the Gardens of Stone In Focus Photography Competition, and on that site you can read about Richard here.
I have known of John Davis, their travelling companion, and his work for a long time. When I started bushwalking, one of my inspirations was a book – “Rope and Rucksack”. It was in my school library and it was a truly marvellous resource to a starting out bushwalker. John was the key author of the book. Around the same time (late 1960’s), he also produced a magazine devoted to outdoor adventure pursuits called “Rucksack Magazine”. Both the book and the magazine had chapters and articles about canyoning and climbing, and these were well illustrated by John’s excellent photos. I think John was the first person to attempt to seriously photograph the canyons of the Blue Mountains. Some of his early canyon photographs I can remember were used as large display photos on the walls at Paddy Pallins shop in the city.
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