AAP
Nigel Brennan says it's surreal.
Strangers hug him; paint him; nominate him for bachelor of the year.
All a far cry from the 15 months the Australian photographer spent held captive by Somali kidnappers.
Brennan and a fellow captive, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, were freed last November when a reported $600,000 ransom for the pair was paid.
He arrived back in Australia a month later and since then has been trying to come to terms with his freedom.
"There has been some weird, surreal things, some strange doors that have opened," Brennan told AAP.
"I think if those things had happened when I first got home, I would have been probably quite freaked out by it."
They include being painted for a portrait submitted for the Archibald Prize.
"Then someone told me I was in the running at one stage for Cleo bachelor of the year, which was a bit of a shock," Brennan says.
"Then I had a friend put me in contact with Bryce Courtenay the other day. I'm heading down to Sydney to do an intense short writing course with him."
Brennan says he's undergoing "psychology work" to help him recover from his ordeal, which started in August 2008.
The former photographer for the Bundaberg News Mail newspaper and Lindhout were kidnapped by armed gunmen while on their way to a refugee camp south of Mogadishu.
He doesn't want to elaborate on the specifics of his kidnap or captivity just yet.
"Since coming home, I'm trying to get my life back into a little bit of order, just the basic everyday things that you do," Brennan says.
"I have been doing quite a lot of psychological work - I have got a great team of doctors who are doing everything for me, just making sure my health is right.
"That will go on probably for the next 12 to 18 months, that sort of work.
"You have your good days, you have your bad days.
"Still, the whole experience is quite surreal.
"Some days it feels like a dream. And other days it's right there, reality sort of slaps you.
"Over the next couple of months is really just focusing on my health, just reconnecting."
Part of that reconnection has been sitting for the portrait by Bundaberg artist David Machen.
"It's quite an honour to have someone want to paint you," he says.
"I have never been put on canvas. It's strange because when people want to photograph me - a photographer likes to be behind the lens, not in front of it, but painting is a different medium."
Brennan has been spending time with family and friends along Australia's east coast, including his home town of Bundaberg, Queensland.
"The first time (in Bundaberg) was pretty surreal, walking down the street and seeing big posters of my melon all over the shop saying 'congratulations, you're home'," he says.
"It was a bit weird.
"The community of Bundaberg have been amazing not only supporting me, but my family, just incredible really.
"It's nice. I have had people stop me in the street and say, 'it's fantastic you're home, we're really happy for you and the family' - that sort of stuff is quite emotional at times.
"There have been so many people ... that have actually followed the story of a local boy.
"I would say I am quite a gregarious person and interact really well with people, it's really touching.
"The other day I was on the train heading down to Brisbane and a lady that worked on the train walked up to me and went: "Nigel?"
"And I went, 'yes'. And she said 'can I give you a hug?'. And I said 'of course you can'."
"She said 'it's amazing that you're home, really amazing' and then just kept going - it was really nice.
"Not that people have been invading my privacy at all.
"I am walking along and people won't even stop me but just say,'nice to see you home'."
