The Pool Collective

Tajette O’Halloran is an Australian photographic artist whose work explores the intricacies of interpersonal relationships within suburban and rural landscapes. For almost a decade, she has dedicated her artistic practice to two major ongoing series, In Australia and The Quarry.

“Much of my work draws on my own adolescence. The locations that I visit, and the subjects that I choose to photograph — I guess I‘m drawn there because they remind me of my own experience as a kid growing up in a regional landscape.”

In Australia is a personal reflection on adolescence, exploring the complexities of rural Australian life, including unconventional families, hardships, and social hierarchies. Using a conceptual documentary approach, Tajette reconstructs scenes from memory in a cinematic style to capture the universal adolescent experience.

“I started the In Australia series, largely about growing up in the Northern Rivers, while living in Melbourne. I cast people, constructed scenes, and conjured crafted realities to create those images. That was my way of making work about home from afar.”

“The level of preparation with my subjects actually doesn’t take the path you’d imagine it would. I‘m not embedding myself in their lives because the work isn‘t about their life — it‘s actually about mine. In Australia stands alone in how I made those images and cast the people in them. My other work is more aligned with traditional documentary”

“Sometimes my casting process is literally me driving and screeching and doing a U-turn because I see someone walking along the street & I think, oh my god, they would be great!”

COURTNEY BARNETT

MISSY HIGGINS

GRACE CUMMINGS

ADAM SPARK

COURTNEY BARNETT

HARRY ANGUS

For the past three years, Tajette has been returning to the Bexhill Quarry on the outskirts of Lismore. With its aqua blue water nestled under towering sandstone cliffs, the abandoned brickworks quarry has become a popular swimming destination for locals.

“The Quarry series actually started when I was scouting locations for In Australia. Every time I went to the quarry, something weird and wonderful was happening that intrigued me. Once I started documenting, I realised that it was something in and of itself, quite separate from my other bodies of work.”

“I‘ve lived in New York, travelled, and lived in Sydney and Melbourne — but when I came back to the Northern Rivers, it‘s almost like I never left. There‘s so much that's exactly how I left it. The Quarry, the Lismore series, and now the Regional Rituals commission are separate bodies of work, but they share overlapping themes that run like veins through my projects.”

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“My work draws on my own adolescence. The locations that I visit, and the subjects that I choose to photograph — I guess I'm drawn there because they remind me of my own experience as a kid growing up in a regional landscape.”

—

“The level of preparation with my subjects actually doesn’t take the path you’d imagine it would. I’m not embedding myself in their lives because the work isn’t about their life — it‘s actually about mine.”

—

“I was pregnant at the time and feeling a pang of nostalgia about going back to my hometown — like some Bruce Springsteen song playing out in real time. It started providing this inspiration, and I started making work that was personal, work that was coming from somewhere inside, rather than me looking outward and trying to make work. It was my own story, and it changed my work forever.”

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Dismantling a Life

& other stories

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COURTNEY BARNETT

MISSY HIGGINS

ADAM SPARK

HARRY ANGUS

TROYE SIVAN

GRACE CUMMINGS

KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

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The Quarry

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“The Quarry series actually started when I was scouting locations for In Australia. Every time I went to the quarry, something weird and wonderful was happening that intrigued me. Once I started documenting, I realised that it was something in and of itself, quite separate from my other bodies of work.”

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Explore more of

The Quarry

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In Australia

In Australia is a personal reflection on adolescence that explores the complexities of rural Australian life, including unconventional families, hardships, and social hierarchies. Using a conceptual documentary approach, Tajette reconstructs scenes from memory in a cinematic style to capture the universal adolescent experience.

—

“I started the In Australia series, largely about growing up in the Northern Rivers, while living in Melbourne. I cast people, constructed scenes and conjured up these crafted realities to create those images. That was my way of making work about home from afar.”

—

“Sometimes my casting process is literally me driving and screeching and doing a U-turn because I see someone walking along the street & I think, oh my god, they would be great! Some people are referred to me, and some are pure happenstance — like a 15-year-old girl and her boyfriend, whom I found through my mechanic. Each casting experience is different — it’s just about following the threads.”

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“I love to work with my subjects to replay moments and events from my youth. I don't need to know about their own lives, but it’s highly likely that at a certain juncture during this process of re-representation of my own youth, I meet my subject experiencing something very similar in real time.”

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www.tajetteohalloran.com

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