"Photographer Cam Neville’s dedication to his documentary subjects can appear slightly fanatical at times. Given that he has spent the majority of the last four years as an active member of the “Firies” in the local volunteer brigade near his Queensland home and has been at more fires than you have had hot dinners, it is not surprising that his portfolio of work and “fire’ stories reflect this. Neville once said he had been “singed” in a close call and on a number of occasions also mentioned that he had copped “a lung full of smoke” which would take a while to clear. What is surprising is that given the inherent danger of what he photographs that his images of the activities of his “brigade brothers” and himself have such a romantic vision, the subjects of his photos are both phlegmatic and poetic. The huge flames surrounding them seem to be part of the cinematic dream of Mervyn LeRoy’s “Wizard of Oz”… courage though it seems, is not something lacking in the hearts of those in these