The Lilly pilly - what the land keeps teaching me

A personal photo and video project from my garden, Coolagolite, Bega valley.

When we arrived at our 10 acre property in Coolagolite, we were living in a caravan and an old shed while the house was just an idea. The tree was one of the few bigger ones left near the previous house site. The tree was half-burnt and the heritage house near it completely gone from the 2020 bushfires that tore through before we ever set foot here

The tree was rough and lopsided. We were tempted to take the rest of it down, but we left it alone.

The Project

This is a personal project, the first in what I hope becomes an ongoing body of work rooted in this land and the small stories that live here. It started without a brief… just some small observations.

My youngest son was collecting Lilly Pillies in the garden one afternoon, pink fruit in small hands, golden afternoon light, and I felt something ping. I knew I wanted to make something from it.

The result is a short cinematic film with voiceover, supported by a series of still photographs. The work sits at the intersection of documentary and personal storytelling, nature photography and brand film. It is the kind of work I want to make more of, and the kind of work I want to make for others.

Watch The Video

the process

The story came first. I wrote a rough voiceover script before I picked up a camera, drawing on four years of living alongside this tree, from the caravan days, through the kids making potions from the fruit, through my mum crumbling seeds into a tray and watching a hundred tiny Lilly Pillies push through the soil, to the morning the bees pulled me out of bed with the sound of them covering the tree in flower.

From the script I built the shot list. From the shot list I built the film.

The stills and video were made across several mornings and afternoons in the golden light this property gets from the east and west.

Six year old boy holding bright pink Lilly Pilly fruit, Sapphire Coast NSW

Child's hands full of pink Lilly Pilly fruit in garden, Bega Valley NSW

Lilly Pilly tree covered in fruit with rosella birds, on rural property, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

Boy playing with Lilly Pilly fruit in golden light, Djiringanj Country NSW

Child's basket full of pink Lilly Pilly fruit in garden, Bega Valley NSW

Lilly Pilly tree covered in fruit with crows stealing fruit, on rural property, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

Child collecting Lilly Pilly fruit in golden afternoon light, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

Lilly Pilly tree covered in fruit on rural property, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

Lilly Pilly seeds soaking in water for propagation, Bega Valley NSW

Lilly Pilly seeds squashed onto fabric showing the vivid pink colour on cotton fabric, Bega Valley NSW

Kids making potions from Lilly Pilly fruit, Bega Valley NSW

Matching pink fabric with Lilly Pilly fruit, Bega Valley NSW

Hands planting Lilly Pilly seeds, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

In greenhouse propagating Lilly Pilly from seed, three generation family property, Coolagolite Bega Valley NSW

Honey Atkinson with a tray of Lilly Pilly trees, ready to plant out as windbreak on rural property, Bega Valley NSW

Six year old boy holding bright pink Lilly Pilly fruit, property Sapphire Coast NSW

Why This Project Matters

I have spent years making work that helps other women show up visibly and honestly in their businesses. This project is me doing the same thing for myself.

The land here is not a backdrop. It is a teacher. The Lilly Pilly story is one of the clearest lessons it has offered us: what happens when you resist the urge to interfere, when you leave something alone long enough to find out what it is capable of. This of course is the basis of permaculture, wait and observe, but naturally I am more impulsive and want to take action straight away.. this was a beautiful reminder.

I am interested in telling those kinds of stories, for myself and for the right clients. Stories grounded in place and season and the accumulation of time. If you have found your way here and something in this work resonates, I would love to hear from you.