Turning challenges into opportunities
Glenn Power turned life’s challenges into opportunities, and embraced creativity as a career.
‘I spend my days doing two of my favourite things – wandering around the stunning Coorong taking photos, and chatting to interesting people while I’m at it.’ After years in the corporate world and army, Glenn works with Coorong Realty as a photographer and digital clip producer.
After a minor mid-life crisis, Glenn realised there that there was more to life than work. So, at the age of 43, he joined the army to train as a plant operator, with his eye on working in Antarctica.
It was a defining change of direction. ‘Life tends to throw challenges at you until you’re forced to listen and make changes,’ he laughs.
Circumstance again intervened, when Glenn was put into an office role after an injury. ‘I started taking photos for the army PR machine, and took some photography courses. I enjoyed the creativity and started thinking of photography as my future career.’
Attracted to Tailem Bend in 2014 by the SA Motorsport Park, Glenn and his wife Barb found it was affordable and allowed them to live comfortably, with fewer financial distractions.
Glenn enjoys the people in motorsport. ‘They’re great characters with interesting stories, and chatting with them is a real highlight for me.’
Glenn isn’t a revhead, although he has a collection of toys worthy of one. ‘Elsie’ is a 1949 680 Wolseley Rat Classic – they were used as English police cars for many years. And ‘Big Bad Beth’ is a 1996 Harley Road King tourer. ‘I happen to know of a pretty decent track just up the road that Big Bad Beth needs to see,’ he says.
So, in this new life, what does a perfect work day look like to Glenn? ‘Being that good a photographer that I can pay someone else to do my editing!’ laughs Glenn. ‘But that’s not going to happen, so I’ll say being out in the field, exploring, and finding things to photograph.’
And the perfect day when he’s not at work? ‘Exploring locally in our caravan (a 1978 Viscount classic). We’re going to kidnap the grandkids and show them the Coorong.’
And what’s next? ‘I’ll continue with my photography, and I’d like to study art. Not sure in what context, but figuring it out is the fun part.’
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