The photo
This iconic image of Barry Long represents his awakening to the truth as he stares through the mirror of existence …
It is used as such in the film ‘Scenes from an Enlightened Life’ and appears in his autobiography ’ My Life of Love and Truth’. The factual context of the photo is rather more mundane - though of course it is always in the ordinary circumstances of our lives that the most telling symbols appear.
In 1954 the 28 year-old Barry Long, as a reporter for the Daily Mirror newspaper, was sent to cover the second running of what was becoming Australia’s premier motor sport event. Most probably he eagerly volunteered for the assignment. Barry’s interest in cars was life-long. The previous year Redex, the engine oil company, had promoted the first Round Australia motor rally and it had grabbed the public attention. In those days routes around the huge continent of Australia were very demanding. Vehicles in the Outback had to be sturdy and reliable, and so a 9,600 mile (15400km) trial was a challenging test for competing vehicle manufacturers and their drivers. The newspapers saw the opportunity for plenty of stories and entered their own teams. Barry and his co-driver were in a Chrysler sponsored by the manufacturer, whose Fargo Trucks were farmers’ friends. Barry made it to the finish, after many days of hard going in the heat and dust, but not without incident as the broken windscreen attests.
After his time as a reporter, mainly covering crime stories for the tabloid Daily Mirror - more or less a scandal sheet, published in Sydney - Barry was promoted first to the sub-editor’s desk and then in 1958 as editor of the Mirror’s sister paper, Truth, published on Sundays. Hence the sponsored Chrysler was bannered with the logos of 'Truth’ and 'Mirror’.
Incidentally, where the photo appears in Barry’s autobiography, the name Sunday Mirror is given in the caption. This is incorrect. The Truth was not renamed The Sunday Mirror until October 1958.
There is a British Pathe News film of the 1954 Rally which conveys the drama of this 'longest, hardest car race in history’. There’s no sign of Barry or the Mirror’s Chrysler in the film but there is a brief glimpse of their newspaper rival’s Daily Telegraph car. To see the film click here.
An entry from the barrylongbulletin on tumblr
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