Centenarian Rena McCawley learnt photography at her father's knee and, on reflecting on her life spent in and out of dark rooms, remains in awe of the power of images.
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In a fortnight's time, she will launch a photographic retrospective featuring portraits of her family leaving pre-revolutionary Russia, groovy bridal portraits she took of women in wedding day hot pants and striking shots of Australian icons such as Gough Whitlam and Germaine Greer.
While sitting among the stills prepared for the show, she said each took her back to various chapters of her life.
"I'm a bit overcome by it all," Mrs McCawley said. "I wouldn't have thought there was a story there but looking through all the images really stirs up memories."
Included in a series of almost 70 photographs are some historic pictures taken by her British father Laurence Collas of her Russian mother Nadezhda holding her as a baby in 1916.
She lived through the final years of World War I as a toddler before her family escaped to Riga, Latvia, and, before she was a teen, they'd fled to Australia in search of work during the Great Depression.
The collection includes an image taken of a young Rena, her face pressed against the train window, making an exit from Russia as the rumblings of revolution began.
Along with charting her life story, working in The Courier Mail photography department and later establishing her freelance photography business, the images reflect the many changes in photographic technology.
"From very young I helped in my father's studio in Stanthorpe, a little country town on the Queensland border," she said.
"After school, I would potter around with dad doing a bit of mounting and trimming. I learnt retouching and colouring; you see in those days the photographs were coloured by hand."
Juxtaposing the early photography are images taken and processed digitally, many of which were taken when Mrs McCawley adventured abroad in her mid 70s after her husband Leo's death.
Armed with a round-the-world-ticket, she stayed in youth hostels and with friends as she saw the sights.
"I became a backpacker late in life," she joked. "I was apprehensive about how people would take an old lady in a youth hostel but I found everywhere the people were lovely and I was accepted."
Toast Rena McCawley's talents and longevity at her exhibition launch from 5pm on September 16 at Canberra Art Works in Philip, or make time to see the exhibition before October 9.
