The distinctive, pastel-hued and symmetrical world of famed film director Wes Anderson has captivated audiences globally. Yet, despite the Illawarra region's growing popularity as a filming location, it appears conspicuously absent from a worldwide project dedicated to spotting real-life places that embody his unique aesthetic.
The Global Map with a Local Gap
A project called Accidentally Wes Anderson (AWA), started by American creators Wally and Amanda Koval, celebrates the director's visual style through a crowdsourced world map. The map highlights submissions from across the globe that feature the quirky, symmetrical, and colour-saturated look characteristic of films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom.
However, on this map, a significant void exists over the Illawarra and much of the South Coast. The project currently lists only two NSW locations: the striking control room at the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and, over 320 kilometres further south, the colourful Narooma Kinema cinema. This has left the region in a visual desert between these two points.
An Artistic Scavenger Hunt in the Illawarra
Inspired to address this gap, photographers from the Illawarra Mercury, Adam McLean and Anna Warr, embarked on a mission. They took to the streets, beaches, and industrial areas of Wollongong and Port Kembla, reframing their perspective to hunt for the region's potential Wes Anderson moments.
Their search focused on finding the perfect pastel shades and the precise, symmetrical lines that are hallmarks of Anderson's work. They framed Wollongong's twin lighthouses against moody skies and examined the geometric forms of mid-1900s beachfront buildings.
"Finding the symmetrical lines like those in a Wes Anderson movie was an interesting assignment," said photographer Adam McLean. "Once you set out looking for them, they can be everywhere. The hardest part was finding the colours that Wes seems to gravitate to."
McLean noted that in his search, he discovered a prevalence of whites and yellows in local architecture, rather than the bright pastels often seen in the director's films, making the hunt for the perfect shot more challenging.
How Illawarra Residents Can Join the Search
The creators of Accidentally Wes Anderson encourage local participation. They describe the project as building upon the director's imaginative scenes to find their real-world counterparts, stating it's about "reframing the perspective" on everyday surroundings.
This means residents of the Illawarra can directly contribute to putting the region on the AWA map. By submitting their own photographs of local spots that capture the Wes Anderson spirit—whether it's a perfectly symmetrical facade, a vintage pastel-painted shop, or an oddly orderly industrial scene—the community can help fill the current void.
The photographic quest by the Illawarra Mercury team, undertaken with this global project in mind, serves as both a creative challenge and an open invitation. It highlights that the beauty worthy of a cinematic frame might be closer than we think, waiting to be noticed through a uniquely Andersonian lens.
