Draft:Robert Rankin (Australian publisher)

Robert Rankin MSc, PhD
Robert Rankin in 2012.
Born	Robert Osmond Rankin 1 April 1951 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Website	https://www.rankin.com.au/

Robert Rankin, born 1951 in Brisbane, Australia is a photographer, writer, scientist and publisher who specializes in presenting and publishing his wilderness landscape photography in a variety of media. His finely detailed images and related prose go a long way to representing and making known the spectacular wilderness landscape of Australia.

Early Life

From an early age, in the 1950s, Robert Rankin can remember having exploratory trips into the nearby bushland at Rochedale on the outskirts of Brisbane, thinking these trips were major expeditions into a remote region. He marvelled at the distant peaks that seemed to surround the area. Rankin always had a desire to explore these mountains surrounding Brisbane but few others were as interested as he was. This interest developed into a desire to show these wild mountains and other places in Australia to a larger audience, a drive that motivates him to this day.

Publishing Career

Joining the University of Queensland Bushwalking Club (UQBWC) in 1970 was instrumental to his developing a comprehensive knowledge of the mountainous regions of South East Queensland and in particular the Scenic Rim. He edited the club’s magazine (Heybob) for 1976 as well as the Brisbane Rock Climbers magazine (RURP) whilst completing a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in physics and a Master of Science (MSc) in environmental physics, concentrating on computer modelling of river pollutants. While he undertook this research, he was employed from 1972 to 1976 as a tutor in the Physics Department at the University of Queensland. In 1998, he was a committee member overseeing the production of the Brisbane Bushwalkers 50 years book.

In 1975, to further his mountaineering skills, he climbed The Minarets (3040m) and Dixon Peak (3004m) in the New Zealand Alps. Also in 1975 he received a federal government grant through the Australia Council to film a documentary about the wild and rugged Hinchinbrook Island in north Queensland. Organizing a team of six including himself, he and the group climbed and filmed the ascent over three days of the difficult South East Ridge of the Thumb. The film, Climb to the Clouds (1975), was subsequently sold to a Queensland television company.

Robert Rankin on the summit of Dixon Peak (3004m), NZ, 1975.

After the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) passed on Rankin’s proposal to film an ascent of the extremely difficult East Face of Crookneck in the Glasshouse Mountains north of Brisbane because of the challenges involved, Rankin took the risky decision to finance the film himself. His mountaineering skills were thoroughly tested as he devised a method of filming two climbers ascending the face from three different viewpoints. Ironically, the subsequent film, To Walk the Vertical was sold back to the ABC who had not taken up the idea of making it in the first place.

In 1977, the Wales (now Westpac) Bank commissioned Rankin to produce a film Walk with Safety (1978) depicting safe bushwalking and camping practices. It was subsequently shown in schools, outdoor clubs and community gatherings.

A short film, shot in August 1977, was titled Ice is Nice (1977). It presented a glimpse of life in mid-winter in the extreme environment of Mount Kosciuszko, high in the Snowy Mountains.

Sunrise over the Western Arthur Range, Tasmania

In the 1970s, Rankin was a Queensland pioneer in this difficult and expensive era of outdoor adventure-oriented 16mm film making. Over subsequent years several more films were produced. The Mystique of Hinchinbrook again looked at Hinchinbrook Island in more recent times. Jewels of the South West described a 6-day solo trip into south-west Tasmania to film the glacial lakes of the Western Arthur Range and lament the flooding of the largest lake in the region, Lake Pedder, for power generation. Other films included Secrets of the Scenic Rim, Federation Peak, South East Queensland and TASMANIA-An Alluring Landscape. All are available for viewing on YouTube.

After four years as producer/director of television education programs with the ABC and. with publishing ideas of his own, Rankin left the ABC in 1981 to take up the offer of a scholarship to undertake a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) with Griffith University, Brisbane, to investigate improving the design of visual graphics in science communication. This combined two interests of his – science and visual communication. With this research completed, the PhD was awarded in 1986. Later, and using the ideas developed in his PhD, Rankin would challenge himself by writing two paperbacks explaining in simple terms the complex theories of relativity (Einstein’s Relativity) and quantum physics (Quantum Reality), receiving very positive praise with reviewers claiming Einstein's Relativity to be a very impressive achievement and one of the best general reading books written on the subject.

After receiving first prize in a 1978 ABC photographic competition and second place in a similar Courier Mail contest, Rankin felt confident enough to attempt a commercial product featuring his own work.

He observed that pictorial calendars, diaries and cards available at the time often only showed the popular locations and ignored the remote and spectacular wild landscapes of Australia, often because they were too hard to get to. In 1980, Rankin released a locally printed calendar entitled The Scenic Rim of South-East Queensland Calendar 1981. Printing only 2000 copies or just enough to cover costs if he sold them all, he was pleasantly surprised at the speed at which the product sold, with the local distributor saying when he saw the product—I’ll take the lot!

Rankin then turned his attention to the book publishing industry which in his opinion was lagging in producing quality products relating to Australia’s wilderness regions. From the start of this venture, Rankin took on the roles of author, photographer and book designer as well as handling the wholesaling and distribution. In this vertically integrated way he could produce a specialty line of quality products at a reasonable price without needing to have large financially risky print runs to lower the unit cost. Inspired by the monochromatic photographs by the 18th century American wilderness photographer, Ansell Adams, Rankin would insist that his own full colour images, wherever possible, would have that ethearal and majestic quality, so characteristic of high mountains.

His first two attempts, the paperback Australian Wilderness Skills (1982) and the casebound On the Edge of Wilderness (1983), both printed in Brisbane, sold out quickly with runs of 5000 and 3000 respectively. On the Edge of Wilderness remained solidly in the best sellers list for some time. It showcased the wilderness regions surrounding the city of Brisbane. The larger casebound Classic Wild Walks of Australia (1986), also printed in Brisbane, performed even better, becoming a classic and selling 20,000 copies over four editions. Rankin took a gamble with this casebound volume. Divided into three sections, pictures, maps and guide, it was the first time a bushwalking guide had been incorporated into such a large book. Guides in the past had been small lightweight paperbacks and easily carried in the field. To avoid carrying the nearly 2 kg book, permission was given to copy and print the relevant sections. Twenty-five wilderness regions across Australia were chosen and Rankin made sure that spectacular but rarely known landscapes were well featured. It became the resource for those who wanted to visit the best wild places Australia had to offer with the Australian claiming the book could be one of the best released in this country in that year (1986). Australian Geographic considered the colour photographs testified to Rankin's dedication, flair and perfectionism in photography.

Later he would re-work the content of this book into a software version available on CD-ROM. The software received many reviews with the Sydney Morning Herald labelling it the best of its kind in Australia and a truly impressive resource. They would call Wild Walks the most beautiful and moving software title they had ever seen, not just good by Australian standards but by any standard.  

Over the years, his books have won many printing awards. Wilderness Light (1993) was written to explain how Rankin went about producing a quality image, with an emphasis on the artistic aspects rather than the technical and explaining why lighting and composition are of such importance.

Rankin knew there were spectacular Australian landscapes that were unknown to the general public-places such as Hinchinbrook Island, Federation Peak, the Western Arthur Range, the Scenic Rim and Lake Pedder. Displaying images of these wild places to the general public through stationery products such as calendars, diaries and cards would help ensure that the broad population would already be informed of what would be lost should the regions be subsequently threatened by development.

Back in the early 1970s, Lake Pedder in Tasmania was flooded for hydro-electric power generation with very few high quality photographs of this original pristine lake ever having been taken. It was realized that it was essential to photographically document what we have now before it is modified by mankind or altered by the growing threat of climate change. Rankin flew over and photographed Lake Pedder in early 1972, landing on the beach just months before the enlarged lake began to fill. He was there again in January 1973 and the original lake was fast disappearing under the flood waters of the Serpentine Dam. He has one good aerial photograph of the lake taken on the 1972 trip.

Robert Rankin on the summit of Mont Blanc (4809m) in France, 2012.

So began the growing range of Australia's Wilderness products, all based on Rankin’s photographs, videos, music, sound and prose. He was the sole producer of all material. From 1980 to 2014, or for 34 years, he wrote, produced and published a large range of Australian Wilderness pictorial calendars, (more than 150 different titles), diaries, cards, books (8 titles), posters (12 titles), music CDs (4 titles), videos, DVDs (10 titles) and software. All these exclusively used Rankin’s photography, writing, music, video and software. Other publishers followed Rankin’s lead but with a lack of good photography at their disposal their efforts generally failed. In 1990, Rankin signed with Music Sense to sell his music CDs throughout Australia. Then in 2015, he decided to scale down the range of products he was making to make time for writing and publishing a range of hiking guides to the best wild places of Australia. At the time of writing, three titles in the series are complete and published, with a fourth currently in production and others being planned.

In all, Rankin has managed Rankin Publishers since its formation in 1980. Rankin Publishers began in the garage of his home at Toowong in inner Brisbane before moving eventually to a much larger warehouse in the industrial suburb of Sumner Park. Robert Rankin trading as Rankin Publishers is a sole trader. The business has employed up to twelve staff at peak times and has generated annual retail sales of over $1 million while servicing up to 1000 retailers. Outlets that have sold Rankin’s products include most large newsagents and bookshops as well as the chain stores including Bookworld, Angus and Robertson, Calendar Club, Dymocks, Myer, Collins Booksellers, QBD, and Co-Op Bookshops as well as many outdoor equipment retailers such as Paddy Pallin and others. All these products, past and present, are discussed further at Robert Rankin’s website.

In more recent times, Robert Rankin travelled to the Himalayas and Everest Base Camp (5364m) in 2009, climbed the Gran Paradiso (4061m) in Italy in 2011 and climbed Mont Blanc (4809m) in France in 2012 at the age of 61. He has also hiked in Yosemite National Park in the USA and the Dolomites in Italy. He has found that these world travels have put his Australian ventures into perspective, making him realize the Australian landscape is unique, different, more subtle and essentially harder to photograph.

Photography

Rankin made using quality images the pre-eminent requirement for his publications. He was prepared to walk for over a week, mostly solo, to reach the remotest regions of this continent where he photographed scenes of Australia that few had seen. This required him to carry a backpack weighing up to 25kg, made up of food and water, tent, sleeping bag, camera equipment and sturdy tripod. The field camera used had a moveable lens board, meaning the lens could be tilted to alter the plane of focus to provide a huge depth of field, making the entire image razor sharp from foreground to background. This technique, together with the use of medium format film, made his images stand out.

Only a few photographers were using such a bulky and complex camera in the field. In the modern era, most photographers were happy to stay with the easier-to-use 35mm film cameras. Peter Dombrovskis was one of the first of a new generation to use a large format camera with lens movements in the Australian wilderness, most notably in the Tasmanian mountains, creating images that stood out. Rankin quickly followed, applying the use of such a camera to the entire Australian continent. The detail and quality of the images was astounding.

Most of Rankin’s images are on film, using a medium format camera and positive 120 size roll film with a frame size of 6cm by 9cm. When scanned using a high quality film scanner, the resulting file easily compares in quality with the best digital equivalent.

Running

Running is second nature to Rankin who has participated in countless events, his best time being a sub 3-hour marathon. While not threatening the race record, the fitness training required for these events plus his skills of running fast through trackless bush, honed from many orienteering events, allowed Rankin to explore the mountains in a unique way.

Running, a highly physical activity, seems to be the antithesis of wilderness photography which requires patience and quiet contemplation. Combining his interests in wilderness and running, he planned routes through the rugged and wild areas he had previously photographed. Mostly alone, he ran these risky remote routes, experiencing landscapes in a day which would usually take several days to cover. While most of these traverses were done in the early 1980s, Rankin still holds the speed record for some of them. The coffee-table sized Beyond the Horizon (2002) was published in the hope that the book would inspire others to undertake similar exciting challenges. Today, there are many participants who gain great pleasure from the healthy past time of what has become known as trail running.

Personal Life

Robert Rankin lives in Brisbane with his partner Carmel Keating and their son Benjamin Rankin. With his family, he has travelled through England, Wales and Scotland as well as Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand and the USA.

Published Books

• Australian Wilderness Skills (1982) A comprehensive guide to the skills required to venture safely into the wildest regions of Australia. (paperback)
• On the Edge of Wilderness (1983) Describes, through pictures, maps and text the wild areas surrounding Brisbane, Queensland. (hardback)
• Classic Wild Walks of Australia (1989, 1990, 1995, 1999) A large and detailed bushwalker's guide incorporating pictures, maps and text describing 25 top wilderness regions of Australia. (hardback)
• Secrets of the Scenic Rim (1992, 2015, 2016) A bushwalkers guide to the Scenic Rim near Brisbane. (paperback)
• Wilderness Light (1993) Discusses photographic techniques useful to the wilderness photographer. (hardback)
• Beyond the Horizon (2002) Discusses Robert Rankin's fast traverses across Australia's wilderness. (hardback)
• Australia – Wild Places (2011) First in a series of 3, this book features some of Rankin's best pictures of Australia's wild places. (hardback)
• Einstein’s Relativity (2011) A high powered scientific theory explained in a simple way. (paperback)
• Australia – Mountains (2012) Second in a series of 3, this book features some of Rankin's best pictures of Australia's mountains. (hardback)
• Australia – Forest to Sea (2013) Third in a series of 3, this book features some of Rankin's best pictures of Australia's forests and seas. (hardback)
• Tasmania – Wilderness Walks (2018) A bushwalker's guide to Tasmania. (hardback)
• Quantum Reality (2020) A high powered scientific theory explained in a simple way. (paperback)
• High Peaks of the Australian Alps (2023) A bushwalkers guide to the high peaks of the Australian Alps. (paperback)

Published Films

• Climb to the Clouds (1975)
• To Walk the Vertical (1976)
• Walk with Safety (1978)
• Ice is Nice (1978)
• Jewels of the South West ()
• The Mystique of Hinchinbrook ()
• Secrets of the Scenic Rim ()
• Federation Peak ()

Published DVDs

• Wilderness Experience (7 Volumes) (2004 – 2012)
• The Rim - Landscapes of the Scenic Rim (2006)
• The Mystique of Hinchinbrook (2007)
• South East Queensland – Wilderness Landscapes (2017)