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Hello everyone and welcome to this virtual highlights tour of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that the National Portrait Gallery stands on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. I'd like to pay my respects to their elders past and present who have lived on and cared for this land since time immemorial. I'd also like to extend my respects to any First Nations people who are joining us today.

My name is Oliver and I'm delighted to be speaking today to Tajette O'Halloran. Tajette is an Australian photographer whose work centers around her immediate family and explores the complexities of relationships in Australia's suburban landscapes. Tajette's work The Quarry is a finalist in this year's National Photographic Portrait Prize here at the National Portrait Gallery. This is the second time Tajette has been a finalist for the prize. She was also a finalist in 2021. Tajette's work has also been recognised and celebrated by photography prizes around the world, notably in 2019 when she won the British Journal of Photography's Portrait of Humanity Award. Outside of museums and galleries, Tajette's work has been published by newspapers such as The New York Times and The Guardian, as well as by specialist art publications around the world.

Now I have plenty of questions for Tajette, but I know she'd also love to hear some from all of you, so if you have any questions at all during our chat, please type them into the comment box. I'll keep track of them as we go along and I will try and ask Tajette as many of them as I can at the end of our chats. We also love to hear where you're all calling from, so please do drop the name of your country into the comment box as well. Hi Tajette, where are you calling from today?

Hi Oliver, I'm calling from Lismore on Bungalung Nation. Our beautiful Bungalung country, it's such a pleasure to have you here with us today. I know time is tight, so I'd love to start talking about your work in this year's National Photographic Portrait Prize. Your work that's a finalist this year is called The Quarry, and I know it's part of a much larger series. So to start with, do you mind telling us the inspirations behind that series and the story behind this photograph in particular?

Yeah, sure. The way that this series came about was I moved back to my hometown last year, and before that I left Melbourne and moved up to the Northern Rivers and was living in another town nearby for the last year after, I think we moved up in 2020. So I'll backtrack a little bit. For the last eight years before that I've been working, it's still ongoing on a series called In Australia, and so when I moved back to my hometown, it's based in my hometown, I was kind of looking around, scouting for locations, and I kept returning to The Quarry because I kept thinking that that would be a great potential location for creating images for that series, and every time I went there, I was just kind of captivated by what I was seeing and who was there, and all the various ways that the landscape was changing and the different people that I was kind of stumbling upon. For an example, I think one time I went, and just to also just to give you a little bit of information, I should say that the Bexhill Quarry is a, where this image is set, is just outside on the outskirts of Lismore, and it's an old abandoned Brickworks quarry that closed down in 1998, but now it's a popular swimming spot, so I probably should have started with that information, but yeah, so I just kept going back there, and just, I one time I kind of went up this, it's off a beaten track, and I went up and there was a little boy there with his kitten, and then another time I went up there, there was a boy doing burnouts on his four-wheeler, and then another time I went up there, there were paramedics standing at the edge of the water, and so I was just kind of like noticing that maybe, even though I was originally scouting it for another body of work that I was making, that maybe there was something a little bit more in this that I wanted to pursue, so yeah, it's about 10 minutes from my house, so, and it's actually on the road that I travel daily almost, so I just found myself going there more and more, and you know, slowly working up the courage to kind of ask to take portraits of people, and this particular image is of a boy, a local boy called Brody, and just across the road from the quarry is a, they have a Friday pizza night every, every Friday that we normally go to, and I kept seeing him there, and I was kind of really interested, I'm always scouting for people and looking at people and wondering, you know, what they'd be like to photograph, and I think that's just the way that I move through the world and interact with people as a photographer, and every time I saw him I just kept thinking, wow, he'd be so great to photograph, and, but I didn't really know what for, or I didn't really have a plan, so I just kind of noted it in my mind every time I saw him, and then one day as I was making my, one of my regular trips to the quarry, he was there with a couple of friends, and I was like, right, now's my opportunity to, yeah, and it was just fortuitous that he was kind of at the location that I was already making this work, so I asked him if I could take his, his portrait, and he agreed, and I think I'm shooting this series on medium format film, so it's very expensive, and I think I took about three, I took three frames, and yeah, this was one of the images, and that's it.

So I know that you grew up in Lismore, and then you moved away, you moved to Sydney for a few years, and then you lived in Melbourne for more than a decade, so what drew you back to the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales?

Yeah, I, it's something, we were living in Melbourne for 12 years, and we, my partner and I had our children down there, and we'd kind of set up our life down there, but I think as things were, you know, getting increasingly expensive, and we just started to kind of wonder where we wanted to put down our roots, and where we wanted to, to raise our children, so we tossed around the idea of moving up to the Northern Rivers, but was deep in decision for a really long time, and I think, like many people during COVID, that was kind of really helped make our decision. We did nine months of lockdown in Melbourne, and and yeah, like I think like so many people during that time just started to really think about what was important, and for us that was family, being new family, and being closer to nature, and living somewhere a little bit more affordable, and yeah, so we made the big leap, at the end of 2020, after the first, you know, almost year of lockdowns, they did another whole year after we left.

Yeah, they did, and when you moved back to Lismore, did you sense or hope that it would offer you new artistic opportunities to tell stories about Lismore in ways that maybe other people weren't?

Yeah, I really did, and I should say that we didn't, we didn't land immediately in Lismore. I had a lot of resistance about kind of moving back to my hometown, so we ended up in a place called Main Arm, which is a little bit closer to the coast, up in the hills behind Mullen Bimby, and then we ended up moving to Lismore after the flood. Yeah, we bought our house, we signed the contract on our house on the Friday before the flood in Lismore, out of flood zone, thankfully, but yeah, on the Monday, we signed the contract on the Friday, on the Monday, the biggest flood in history, and so yeah, we moved here at that time, and yes, to answer your question, yes, I did, at the moment, as I mentioned, I was working on this body of work called In Australia, that was all kind of based on my upbringing in small towns, suburbia, and so, you know, it was a big motivation to kind of come back home, and I really felt like it would give me access to working a little bit more consistently than what I was in Melbourne, you know, being immersed in the environment that I was making the work, but yeah, it's had its challenges, I think, because it's such a small town, it's actually kind of felt a little bit harder to make, to make that work, which I'm, which we'll be getting into, and you're showing some of the slides here, I think, yeah, everyone's connected, and everyone knows each other, I mean, not everyone, but you know, there's a lot more of that than living in a big city, so I think I was, I actually found it easier to make the work when I was coming up here and then returning to Melbourne, flying in and flying out, and then suddenly when I'm immersed in this environment and confronted with all the, you know, my past and everything, it actually kind of, and I think maybe that's why the Quarry series has been a little bit of a, you know, a relief from the challenges that I've faced, continuing with that in Australia series. Now, before we dive into in Australia, can we talk just a little bit about the flood? How did it affect you and did it affect the making of your work, and did the experience of the floods inform the work in any way? Firstly, we, as I mentioned, we're living in Upper Maynaum, and we are living in a little bush house right at the very, very top of the mountain, like right, it was one of the last houses before you reached the National, the Mount Jerusalem National Park, and we weren't there at the time of the flood, and it's, I won't go into all the details, but basically the whole road got washed away, and we, there were many, many landslides, and we kind of had to trek up and see whether our house was still standing, and it was, but there was a big landslide underneath, and we kind of just made the decision that we didn't really feel safe about moving back there. So yeah, it was two months of living in temporary accommodation and staying with friends, and all that, you know, upheaval, and so I think landing in Lismore in the house, in our house was actually quite a relief, and like we, after being homeless for two months, we kind of landed and just felt so thankful that we had somewhere to go, because, you know, it, the disaster's been, you know, so, so hard on so many people in this area. It affected my work, I guess, because, you know, I just wasn't in the headspace to be making work at all, and, you know, just kind of working out our life kind of took priority over everything. With the quarry work, I actually just started documenting, I mentioned that I'd be going there and taking portraits of people and things, but I also started documenting the environmental changes that had happened, because I was photographing the quarry before the flood, and then I was going there after the flood, and the whole road had been washed away, so it kind of added inspiration for another aspect to that series, and so not only am I photographing people, but I'm also photographing the landscape and the environment, and, you know, the just nature, really, and how, how it's, you know, forever changing, and, you know, blooming and dying, and that's been of real interest to me, so even when I've been going there and no one's been there, I've really been concentrating on those environmental factors.

Yeah. You mentioned just then that the quarry really is a documentary series, you're going to a specific location, you're shooting the location as it is, you're asking people to pose in the images as themselves. When I first looked at your "In Australia" series, I also thought that was a documentary series, but it turns out there's actually a lot more happening behind the scenes. Can you talk about how you made the "In Australia" works, and how that was so different to what you're now doing on the quarry?

Yeah, sure. I, yeah, I started the "In Australia" series back in, I think it was 2014, and it's been a real progression, and the meaning of the work has really kind of evolved over time, but basically it started out with me documenting, creating these, like revisiting my adolescence and using subjects to kind of retell aspects of my my teenage years growing up in Lismore. Yeah, it started off as a really kind of surface level, just, you know, interest in my quite unique, I think, upbringing. We, yeah, I mean, I don't even know where to start, but yeah, so basically I was just creating these, these, these different scenes, like based on my memories from my quite intense adolescence in, in growing up in the Northern Rivers, and then the quarry series, so that's like casting people to be in them, and, you know, recreating these scenes and organizing lighting, and really kind of putting together everything that you see in the frame is something that I have constructed and directed, and so embarking on the quarry series was just a really different way of working, and a lot of that has felt so freeing for me. I think a lot of energy goes into that, working in that way with the "In Australia" series, and I just felt like, yeah, just so free. It was, you know, I was working a way that was very observational, and, and, and I guess coming along with that, I hadn't really worked in the way of walking up to people and approaching them and asking them to take their, their portrait, which took a little bit of time, and I think there was a bit of a territorial thing going on there. I felt kind of like I was, you know, I had, I wasn't part of this, this town anymore, and I'd been away for so long, so I kind of had this feeling of like, it wasn't my territory, and as time has gone on, and this has become more and more my home again, I've gained more confidence in, in that, and feeling a little bit more confident in, you know, owning the work that I'm making and, and being able to approach people and tell them what I'm doing, and yeah. How have people responded in general? Do you feel the community now knows about you, and this kind of getting behind the work? Definitely. I've had like, yeah, I've had such great feedback and, and a lot of interest with people who, you know, have, have kind of been following along with the work, whether that's local or, or not. That's really nice. I'll go down to the library and, you know, say my name, and then they'll be like, are you the one doing the quarry series? And I was having a garage sale on Saturday and somebody came up and she was getting my name to give me a bank transfer and she was like, oh, are you the photographer who's doing the quarry series? So I think, you know, being in a small community, that work is getting known a little bit, which is really nice. I don't know whether that works in my favor, whether, you know, I've shot there for one summer, basically. And every time I went there, I think there was only two instances where I saw the same people there twice. So, yeah, I think it possibly would work in my favor if I was, I don't want to be known as the annoying quarry girl. Always there with her camera. So, yeah, we'll see how it pans out.

And it's, it's lovely that the community are getting to know you and supporting you in this way. But does that feel like added pressure for you? Because you are documenting a community that you are part of in your everyday life?

Yeah, absolutely. I, you know, I always, I think I've learned a lot about the ethics of photography as I've, as I've gone along. And I really just try and make sure that everything I'm doing is communicated really well. If I'm taking your portrait, this is potential of where it could end up. And are you comfortable with that? More and more, you know, trying to get people's details and ask for permission if their images are going to be used in any, in any kind of way. So, yeah, just taking those, those precautions that I'm not overstepping the mark or, you know, putting images out into the world that people aren't comfortable with. So, yeah. And we've talked a little bit about the differences between the quarry and in Australia. But there are similarities too. To me, as an observer, they feel connected by this kind of undercurrent of maybe foreboding, which you've talked about with the in Australia series quite explicitly. But I was wondering whether that was something that you either feel when you're taking the pictures or whether that's something you're deliberately instilling in the photographs, if you think you are at all. Yeah, that's an interesting question and not one I've given a lot of thought to with the quarry series. I think when I'm photographing, you know, when I'm the people that I'm choosing to photograph, I think I'm drawn to a particular person. And I think, you know, I think I have this, you know, even though it is a very popular destination for youth, I do have this, this, I find that the teenage is quite intriguing. And so I think, you know, these images of, you know, these, these people in this stage of their life and yeah, I mean, sorry, I don't I don't really know about foreboding, but I think maybe it's the way that I see the world and the way that my, my life has been informed by my own adolescence and maybe that kind of involved that I approach my, my portraiture as well. But yeah, I definitely think that that the diversity of youth and, and really is something that I am drawn to.

Yeah, can you tell us a little bit about your adolescence, because you were growing up in Lismore at a really interesting time of its sort of history as a town?

Yeah, so I, my parents were like of the hippie generation and I was brought up on a commune just outside of Lismore. And for anyone not familiar with the Northern Rivers, it, you know, there's a, it was after the famous Aquarius Festival, which was a big festival that was a hippie festival that was held in, oh, 1975 or something around there. I'm not exactly sure of the date, but yeah, it was a time when a lot of people migrated to the Northern Rivers. And there was a lot of, you know, counterculture going on. There was a lot of people kind of rejecting the norms and there was a lot of political rebellion and, you know, there was a lot of peace, love and drugs and all of that kind of thing. And I think, you know, particularly with my own story, my parents, you know, wanted to give us, you know, my sister and I and, you know, a life of freedom and which they did and which was wonderful and ideally in so many ways. But I think, you know, what I've been interested in as kind of coming through and reflecting as an adult is the other side of that, the freedom and the drug use and all of that kind of thing and maybe looking at the darker side of, you know, how there were, you know, in communities and in my friendship groups, there were, you know, definite, you know, levels of neglect and, you know, innocent kind of, you know, marijuana, smoking and things like that kind of escalated for a lot of people into much harder drugs. And so, yeah, I think as children, we, yes, we had idyllic, beautiful, wonderful times, but there was also, you know, those kind of darker elements that come out of those, of that way of living. And I think we were exposed to a lot of things that maybe I felt was normal up until a certain point in my life. And then as I was meeting people into, you know, I was like, wow, you know, maybe everything that we experienced and everything we saw and everything we're exposed to wasn't as normal, normal, as, you know, I just didn't really come across anyone in my adult life who had those shared experiences, which was a real eye-opener for me. So I think, you know, embarking on my photography practice, it was a real point of maybe this is something worth exploring.

And I read an interview with you a couple of days ago in which you said in some ways it's a challenge to talk about both these series because they're both ongoing. You're still making works for both of these series. What's next for them? Is there any end insights? Do you have anything coming up with either of them you can share with us?

Yeah, no, it is challenging. And I think there's a bit of apprehension about like calling, you know, closing the doors on, I mean, the Quarry series to me still feels very new and still feels very exciting. The In Australia series, you know, I feel like I'm almost ready to kind of close that chapter. You know, my dream would be to make, you know, a photo book of, you know, that's the kind of end destination that I see my work in for both of those series, actually. So I think that maybe that's something I'll be concentrating on with the In Australia series, maybe trying to look at putting that work together in a book. And I think that would help close the chapter of that work. I recently did a Guardian, the Guardian did a feature on that work, the In Australia series. And it really was the first time that I sat down and really, really wrote about what it was about. I think over the years I've written different artist statements or different descriptions for different places where that body of work was going to end up. But it was the first time that I really kind of nutted out and really worked out what it was about. So it felt like a nice kind of closure to me. I mean, I'm still making some images for that work. So it's definitely not over. But yeah, I feel like I'm getting close.

You're getting close. I can see people in the chat cheering for the book. Kim says, "Yes, a book, tick." And Lucie from our team says, "I agree, Kim." Just gave him some massive grant. Well, if anybody listening has any leads. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us all today, Tajette. And especially thank you for your honesty, because I know so much of this work is so personal, based in both your adolescence and in your life today in Lisbon. So thank you for speaking to us. Thank you so much. Really nice. And thank you everyone for dialing in. It's great to see so many of you joining us from all around the world. So goodbye from the National Portrait Gallery.