PEOPLE AND THEIR THINGS: Photography Project by Orly Beringer. What object in your home would you say is your absolute favorite possession, and why? Almost any object in any given home has a story behind it. This photography series captures interesting people with their interesting things.

1. PEOPLE AND THEIR THINGS

2. “I collect because history is history. People sacrificed themselves for what they believed in,
and their lives and stories need to be remembered. These are some of my locks from World
War 2. I think I’ve been drawn to collecting locks as some kind of metaphor. My life has been
up and down in the last ten years, feeling locked up doing the same thing day in and out, but
I’m still trying to love life.”
Gemma, 35.

4. “I found this in Carnarvon, Shark Bay, on a fishing boat. We trawled it up, and it was hanging off
the edge of the net. We hung on to it for about thirty minutes trying to save it. And then I did. It’s
a harpoon, for killing whales. They shoot it out of a big canon, and it sticks into the whale and
explodes. They follow it until it dies and pull it up to the surface.”
Ian, 56.

6. “It lasted 54 minutes and was the longest finals Underwater Hockey game that’s ever been
played. We fought with everything we had left in us. When we won, I swam to the surface to
hug Jules and she said, ‘don’t touch me, I’ll drown.’ A few people had this really hard runup to
the competition, like Edee was going through a divorce and had to look after three little kids on
her own. We worked so hard and made so many sacrifices. When it was finally over, all we
could do was sit by the edge of the pool and cry.”
Michaela, 47.

8. “I was a self-taught sewer in my 20’s. Everywhere I went, so did my sewing
machine. I love the ability to make clothes and quilts. Sewing is my happy place.”
Ellen, 59.

10. “I was in class in my first year of uni, with a new group of friends. One of my friends looked
me dead in the eye and said, ‘can I draw you?’, and I said go ahead. Then he churned out
this beautiful piece of me flying through space with a cape. I feel like that’s the first time a
whole group kind of just, laughed together, in a classroom, and it felt like a good bonding
moment between all of us.”
Jackson, 20.

12. “Four years ago, I was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease. I got so sick I
couldn’t take care of Bella on my own anymore. I had to give her away. It was like losing
my best friend, and it hasn’t gotten any easier with time. I came across her collar while
cleaning and remembered the fun times we had at the beach and when she would get
covered in flowers fossicking through the garden. It made me smile. We may not share
another sunset together, but I will always have a full heart with her collar in hand.”
Kara, 37.

14. “I’m an artist and was given this turtle in exchange for painting it. The lady who gave it to
me was a primary school teacher who would bring it to class to show the students. She
inherited it from her dad, who had it given to him by two Aboriginal boys he befriended in
Broome. You can see the holes in the shell where they speared it. She wanted to pass it
down to her kids but apparently, they weren’t interested. She gave it to me because she
wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it. I love the history. I want to pass it on
to someone who can keep the story going.”
Sofie, 45.

16. “These kittens have sat on the windowsill of all my childhood homes. Dad was in the
army, so our family and the kittens moved house eleven times. They symbolized
security for me, an anchor or mainstay I could focus on with so much change going on
all the time. I have them sitting on a windowsill of my own now, and funnily enough this
has been the longest time I have ever lived in one house for all my life.”
Cindy, 62.

18. “This is is my Southern Fighter Cray, I caught him myself down in Esperance. I was at
work, diving for abalone, and I spotted him hiding in a cave. I just swam in and grabbed
him. It was quite a tussle. See those two front daggers? They can really do some damage.
It’s a good sized one, they don’t get much bigger than this.”
Dave, 55.

20. “Growing up, I didn’t have the most normal family, having a single mum and a dad
that wasn’t in the picture, so things always felt uncertain. I’ve had this Grover doll
since I was four. He’s journeyed with me through everything I went through as a
child, and so his colour has been imprinted on me. The colour blue is a comfort
colour. You can always tell if I’m having a bad day or if I’m feeling uncomfortable if
I’m wearing the colour blue on my person.”
Liam, 19.

22. “This is volume one of The Odyssey by Homer. I took it to an antique bookstore
for evaluation and she said it was made in the early 1700s, because the binding
is actually made from sheepskin. It’s 276 years old. I found it when I was working
at a Vinnies op shop. The thing with working at the op-shop is that an item has to
be on the shelf for at least three hours before a staff member can purchase
anything. They were the most anxious three hours of my life.”
Carolena, 66.

24. “When I was little I loved to colour in stuff and I loved to draw. I was
always asking mum if I could colour in her paper from work. I love
mixing paints, that’s why I like these pens because you can press down
on them and mix the colours together and make other colours. They’re
paint pens. I just have a big passion for art.”
Ava, 11.

26. “This is my mosaic table which I made myself more than twenty years ago. I’m
71 this July and all my kids have grown up. The tiles have been mosaiced on
glass, which makes it extremely heavy. I’ve moved around quite a lot, over East
too, and my poor removalist hyperventilates every time I call him for another
move. My three boys joke about the amount of laughter and drinking we’ve had
on this table. If it could speak, it would tell a thousand tales.”
Eve, 70.

28. “It’s a Chinese snuff bottle depicting the eighteen Arhats. The writing on the base
says it was made during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor who practiced Tibetan
Buddhism. I can be a very gloomy and pessimistic person. In the last year or so
I’ve been studying Buddhism and I think it’s the first religion or philosophy that’s
provided any perspective of life that I’ve found at all helpful or realistic. My mother
gave this bottle to me. It’s a beautiful object.”
Aidan, 21.

30. “This is a saw that belonged to my dad, it’s probably over fifty years old now. It
reminds me of how hard he’s worked all his life, having emigrated from Italy to give
our family a better life. I also inherited his love of working with tools. I’ve always
been able to use drills and jigsaws and am a handywoman from way back.”
Anna, 61.

32. “This is the beastbox. It’s cooked, nothing works in it. The suspensions cracked, it’s
got two flat tyres, no steering panel, a leaking battery, and the oil hasn’t been changed
since 1995. I love it because it just shouldn’t run, but still does. It defies the laws of
physics. I’ve done some mad skiddies in it. You’ve got to admit, It’s pretty beast.”
Jake, 16.

34. END