Truck drivers are often burdened with a bad reputation on Australian roads. The sight of an ominously large bullbar expanding within the frame of a rear-view mirror is enough to persuade most holiday-makers into the left lane. But how often do we consider the people behind the wheel of these beastly machines? The people whose workplace is the road, whose office is their steering wheel and most importantly, whose home away from home is the cabin of an 18-wheeler.
For Gold Coast-based photographer Cory Wright, the daily lives of long-haul truck drivers seemed a curious one. His series of portraits, Gentlemen in Disguise explores these cabins in an attempt to understand what Wright says "made the space their own". In doing so, he discovered a community of people that spend vast amounts of time away from their true homes, but were nonetheless incredibly welcoming of him into their humble adobes.
As a photojournalist and documentary photographer, Wright's approach was one of immersion - spending long stints in the cabin of his own vehicle, camped out at an M1 truck stop near Brisbane and waiting for potential subjects. It was during this time that Wright admits he formulated his own preconceptions of truck drivers. "To be honest, I was expecting to be turned down. I, and I believe many others, had an idea of what a stereotypical truck driver might be like. It was this idea that had me thinking I wouldn’t be given the time of day," he says. This presumption that was quickly proven otherwise. "I was wrong. Many of the drivers invited me into their personal spaces and often spoke to me at length about their experiences and what life is like on the road. Looking back I suppose it shouldn’t be that surprising, as these are people whose profession is largely taken for granted by wider society," he said.
Further influenced by the logistics of the project, Wright's use of typology became an effective technique not only to describe the diversity of these spaces, but to connect the audience with those faces that are often concealed by vast chrome exhaust pipes and burning rubber. "I’ve always loved typology as a methodology... The method I used in this series – photographing each driver in his or her cab from the same or similar viewpoint – is something I arrived at after photographing them in other ways," says Wright. "When this is coupled with the fact that drivers can’t ‘see’ or visually interact with truck drivers due to their lower viewpoint, I think that people start to fill in the gaps themselves about what type of person is behind the wheel.”
Ultimately, it was the "approachability and openness" of truck drivers that was the biggest discovery for Wright when shooting this project. Both qualities seemingly contrary to their reputation on the road, but as Wright explains, the stereotype of your average truck driver is usually far from accurate. "The diverse backgrounds that drivers come from convinced me that these are some of the most unique and under-appreciated people in Australian society," he says.
About Cory Wright
Cory Wright is Canadian-Australian photojournalist currently working in Bangkok, Thailand. His work seeks to raise awareness of injustice, abuse, and marginalisation while also being mindful of the boundaries that separate image making as a means of exploration, and exploitation.
www.coryjwright.com
Instagram: @coryjwright
