behind every door

There is something beautiful about small town life.

The familiar streets, the local shops, the houses tucked into the landscape. People knowing their neighbours. Kids growing up together. A sense of community and safety that can feel almost idyllic.

I grew up in a small town, and there is so much about that experience that I love and feel nostalgic for.

But domestic and family violence does not discriminate.

It exists across different communities, incomes, cultures, professions and postcodes. It can exist behind the doors of beautiful homes, in close knit communities and in families that, from the outside, appear completely ordinary.

For Side Quest Stories, I wanted this landscape to hold both of those truths at once.

A place can be beautiful and still contain pain. A community can feel connected while someone within it feels incredibly isolated. We cannot always know what is happening inside someone’s home simply by looking at it from the outside.

That is why community matters so much.

Looking out for one another. Creating spaces where people feel safe enough to speak. Listening without judgement. Believing people when they tell us something is wrong.

Every little house contains a story, and we rarely know the whole of it from the outside.