In 1999, Steve and Robyn Holland set out on a 12-month 55 000-kilometre journey to take a snapshot of Australia at the turn of the century. Wanting to go beyond the travel brochures and tourist attractions, they sought to reveal the true source of Australia's rich diversity: its people.

The result is Australians, a kaleidoscope of profiles taken from all over the country. With its mix of young and old, male and female, white collar and blue collar, city and country, this book lets you enter the homes, workplaces and lives of a host of ordinary ( but unique and fascinating Australians).

From Broken Hill karaoke queen to Perth palaeontologist, from Parliament House greenkeeper to Kings Creek camel farmer, the faces here are as full of contrasts and surprises as the very landscape of this country. They are the faces of a nation at ease with its diverseness. They are the faces of Australia.


Robyn Holland is a freelance journalist. Steve Holland is a freelance photographer. In 1999 the couple travelled around Australia in a campervan to collect the material for this book. Their children, Kate (then 4) and Matthew (2) travelled with them. Meg, their third child, was born a few weeks after returning home.

To read the behind the scenes stories go to The Holland Family Journey 1999.