Water bottle : D Dare Parker, Official Photographer

Green plastic water bottle in felt lined canvas DPCU cover. The bottle is made of olive green plastic, with raised lettering on the base which reads, ‘RENEWIT 1992 (Broad Arrow) 8465 66 086 8349' with illegible black felt pen hand writing above and below. On the front of the bottle in raised letters are the words ‘FOR WATER ONLY DO NOT APPLY CANTEEN TO OPEN FLAME OR BURNER PLATES'. The bottle is worn, with dirt embedded into the scratched outer surface, attached removable lid and worn DPCU outer cover. One red and one cream coloured rubber band are twisted around the neck of the bottle. The bottle is fitted into an aluminium cup with retractable aluminium handle, which covers the lower half of the bottle, and can be used for drinking or heating of water. The cup has the word ‘DRINK' hand written on one side in black felt pen. The DPCU cover has a cotton webbing loop with two metal belt clips on the rear, a small length of webbing attached to the front, and two flaps fastened by brass clips. There are also three black metal eyelets in the base of the cover, which is marked in black felt pen with the words, ‘STONE', ‘HALLED' and ‘HALLEDAY'.

David Dare Parker was made an Official Photographer for the Australian War Memorial in 2003, becoming the first such appointment since the Second World War. In company with the artist Lewis Miller, Parker worked alongside the Australian Defence Forces (ADF), and was deployed to Iraq, the Persian Gulf and other Middle Eastern locations for a period of six weeks during April-May 2003. During this time, he was clothed and equipped with ADF issue items. The official purpose of his engagement was to create a visual record of Australian services participating in Operation ‘Falconer’, including representation of the diversity of operations of the ADF, as well as the civilian environment. He was attached to units such as Royal Australian Navy mine clearance teams, and had opportunities to photograph Royal Australian Air Force fighter aircraft on their final combat operations over Baghdad as well as interception duties by HMA Ships Kanimbla and Anzac. By the time of his appointment to the Memorial, David Dare Parker was a recognised photojournalist and a multiple finalist in the Walkley Award for Best Feature Photograph, which he won in 1997. The Walkley Award is granted by the Walkley Foundation, in recognition of the work of Australian photographers, by the media industry and their journalistic peers, for skill, versatility and technical excellence. Parker also worked in East Timor at the end of the Indonesian occupation in 1999, capturing images of the civilian environment and of ADF Peacekeeping activities.