Caro Telfer: Australian Farm Albums

As Caro Telfer, Photographer I have been photographing farming families for many years, as part of my family portrait business.

I realised that I wanted to document more than just the people on the farm when I was photographing producer stories for Meat and Livestock Australia. I enjoyed photographing farmers working with their livestock in the yards or paddocks.

When my friend’s family made the tough decision to sell their farm I went and photographed the farm to make a farm album for the family before they left. Then I decided our own family should have one!

I wished that I had something similar to show my kids so they could see what I did on the farm with their grandfather before I was married. We have a bit of old video footage somewhere, but not an album of photos that tells the whole story.

I grew up with my three sisters on a farm in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. After dropping out of university when I turned 21 I went home to the family farm and farmed with my father for six years. I learnt a lot about machinery and enjoyed driving the tractor and the harvester. I remember we had one very dry year when I spent a lot of time in the old International truck carting water for livestock. I had my own sheep dog, and we spent hours droving sheep and working in the sheep yards. At shearing time I would roustabout until I got my owner-classer certificate and then I could class the wool.

Eventually the farm was sold and I moved to a tourist town where I worked at an art gallery for a short time before I met my husband and moved to his farm near Darkan, on the edge of the Wheatbelt. It was strange becoming a farmer’s wife instead of a farmer. I still help out on the farm but my main focus for the last twenty years has been my children, and now my photography business.

As an accredited professional photographer with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography I am continually updating my knowledge and skills.