Travels with an ABC cameraman

 

Mint condition. PB. 262pp. $25 including postage anywhere in Australia.

Take an entertaining and occasionally terrifying ride alongside likeable ABC TV camerman, Julian Mather and share some adventures from his 25 years on the job. 

Wry humour infuses this beautifully written book. 

For as long as he could remember Julian Mather wanted to be a photojournalist. then he got side-tracked. 

And while military sniper seemed like a good idea at the time, he found the telescopic sights of his rifle were starting to look more and more like a movie camera, and so he fell in love with film-making. It wasn't quite photojournalism but it was better than killing people. 

Shooting people with a camera was more, well, fun. And of course, life as an ABC TV cameraman was less life-threatening -- wasn't it? 

From filming explosions in Los Alamos, to harrowing car journeys in Kosovo, from performing magic tricks for kids to hanging from helicopters with his camera on his shoulder, Julian goes from one exciting and perilous adventure to another. 

And then there's the people he meets along the way: care workers and strippers, refugees and nuclear scientists, and the many strange and wonderful character he works with, both in the outback and the corridors of that great national institution, the ABC. 

It's a bloody great job, even if it is the second best job in the world. 

THE SECOND BEST JOB IN THE WORLD is a funny and entertaining look at the life of an extremely likeable TV cameraman who really has been everywhere, and done everything.