A picture is worth a thousand words.
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For photographer Craig Williams the essence of street photography is to tell a story and evoke emotive thoughts for the viewer.
This was certainly the case when he snapped a capture of an Armidale couple, Max and Janice Bowning, looking intently over the Port Macquarie breakwall on Saturday, July 3.
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When Craig saw the photo he had taken, he knew he had to try and find the couple. He posted the image on local Facebook groups, hoping someone would know who they were.
Luckily, a relative of the pair saw the photo on social media.
Erica Browning was scrolling through her Facebook feed when she spotted the photo.
"I did a double-take when I saw it, I thought 'wait a minute that's uncle Max and aunt Janice', I couldn't believe it," she said.
Erica showed the photo to her husband Bruce, Max and Janice's nephew.
"It's such a lovely photo. We sent it to their daughters and everyone has really loved it," Bruce said.
Max and Janice have been married for close to 60 years. They often holiday in Port Macquarie and have been visiting the area for as long as Bruce can remember.
"Because of where they are at in their life, we don't know how many more photos of them together like this we will get, so it's a lovely thing to have," Erica said.
"We had dinner with them the night the photo was taken and you really can see the love that's still there between them," Bruce added.
Craig had decided to go to the breakwall to take photos of surfers the day before.
"The conditions were really good on the Friday and there were plenty of surfers out and because I got some really good shots, I went back the next day."
The surf conditions were pretty poor on Saturday, so Craig began trying to snap a shot of the sunset and the waves.
"The conditions were very choppy and there weren't many surfers out on the water, but even though it was cold, there were plenty of people out walking.
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"There were too many people to get a nice shot of the waves and sunset, so I started taking photos of the people who were milling around."
When taking the photo, Craig found it difficult to isolate single subjects with a plain background of the sunset until he turned around and captured people walking towards the ocean.
"The sunset turned the sky orange and that's when I saw the couple looking over the side of the breakwall at the water.
"They were both looking so intently which created a mystery around the photo and what they were looking at while talking to each other. I could see that they had a connection to each other."
Craig has been in touch with Max and Janice's family and he is planning to print the photo as a gift.
"I've been speaking with their relatives and it's something I really want to do for them," he said.
Erica said it will be a wonderful surprise for the couple.
"We really appreciate that Craig is doing this for us and we're hoping to surprise uncle Max and aunt Janice with the photo," she said.
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