Lange did not ‘romp easily’

Press, 1 May 1989, Page 2

Lange did not ‘romp easily’

PA Wellington The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, was initially hesitant about being photographed lolling in the grass at Hokianga, the Sydney freelancer who took the shot says. “I don’t think he romped in the grass easily,” Carolyn Johns told the “Sunday Star.” “It wasn’t like he rolled around. He was initially uncomfortable but he relaxed into it.”

Johns, aged 38, said she sensed Mr Lange’s reluctance when she asked if he would mind lying back in the long grass. “It was an unusual request but the grass looked so inviting and luxuriant.” She took an instant snap of the pose to show Mr Lange how it would appear. “He laughed a lot when he saw it.”

The picture, taken in 1987 for the “New York Traveller” magazine and reprinted in the latest “Time” magazine, showed a man spiritually close to the earth, Johns said. “I loved his spirit — the fact that the leader of a country was able to relax for a moment and be close to the land he loved.”

Johns, of Sydney’s Wildlight agency, said the picture was taken “in a very trusting situation” and it was said the timing of the latest article meant it was misinterpreted.

Mr Lange denied the picture was a political liability. “If I had been lying with someone that wasn’t grass it would be political liability. I think people in New Zealand understand I don’t spend my day lying in a field of hay.”