Sometimes, the simple act of immersing yourself in a book can make you feel like you’ve been on a journey. An actual, physical journey where you have discovered new places and met new people.
When I read Kara Rosenlund’s Shelter: How Australians Live a few years ago, this is exactly what I experienced and it left me wanting to discover more of Australia… to travel around the beautiful, regional areas we are blessed with and to explore the countryside again and again.
Shelter is the product of a year-long road trip. Kara set out to discover and document real Australian interiors, “houses whose beauty and charm told their own story”. From rustic, abandoned cottages to repurposed, eco-friendly abodes, she captured an endearing series of interiors and landscape images, creating an authentic and intriguing representation of regional and remote Australia whilst sharing the beauty of a range of Australian landscapes. Rock shelves. High country. Sand dunes. The relationship between shelter and environment underpins each chapter of the book.
For me, the most significant element of this book is that the homes Kara captured on her journey were not altered or styled for photography. They were real and oh so beautiful. Kara says, “I merely documented the spaces, as they were, and recorded the emotion of the home”.
Visual storytelling can be so powerful and the ability to record and depict true character through imagery is a gift that Kara has shared with us through this book.
I have followed Kara’s creative adventures since her “Travelling Wares” days in Frankie, the 1956 vintage caravan. I must have stumbled across her vintage wares in an online treasure hunt one day. And now, almost a decade later, I am still utterly inspired by her work.
Kara weaves her unique and authentic style through everything she creates, most notably, her travel photography and photographic print collections. Shelter captures the essence of her creativity, authenticity and talent. A timeless tome for every coffee table, bedside or bookshelf.
