Nullarbor

Nullarbor weaves the story of a family’s final road trip, capturing the emotional essence of their journey and exploring the complexities of family, memory, and the Australian domestic experience through black-and-white and colour photography.

My photographic series Nullarbor delves into the complex dynamics of family through the lens of a cross-country road trip. At the beginning of 2024, my family embarked on a journey spanning over 8,000 kilometers, traveling from Melbourne to Perth and back in celebration of my mother’s 60th birthday, marking it as our final family holiday together. This body of work reflects not only the broader theme of family, but also reflects the deeply personal aspects of my own domestic experience growing up in rural Australia.

Through the medium of both digital colour and black-and-white film, I aimed to capture multiple facets of family life, blending subjective emotional perspectives with objective documentary elements. The black-and-white images emphasise personal, intimate moments, while the colour photographs convey the more objective, external aspects of our journey. The interplay between these contrasting mediums highlights the emotional weight of the journey, with texture and colour becoming crucial narrative tools. The decision to use both film and digital mediums also contributed a historical anchor to this project, fusing both the past and present technologies to speak on the timeless family road-trip experience.

Ultimately, Nullarbor offers a uniquely Australian take on the classic road trip genre, blending a celebration of family with the emotional highs and lows experienced along the way. Inspired by classic photography projects like Stephen Shore's 'American Surfaces,' and Robert Frank's 'The Americans' This project serves as both a personal exploration and a broader commentary on the nuances of familial bonds, the Australian domestic experience, and the significance of shared journeys.