Life in the secluded suburbs of Australia

In Wellard, a new photo book currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, Tim Palman turns his lens to the dreamy, deserted suburbs of Australia.

The 21-year-old photographer has been living on the fringes of Perth for the last year, moving with his family to one of the region’s ubiquitous ‘private estates.’ These strange estates, which are all located in the area of Wellard, offer Australians who have been pushed out of the city a chance to live out the “domestic dream” in an artificial suburbia.

“Wellard is just one of dozens – if not hundreds – of private estates dotted around Perth,” Palman tells Huck. “I had always had preconceptions about these places as being boring, sterile and pretentious – moving into Providence Private Estate and being dropped into such an environment forced me to reflect on my prejudice.”

Palman’s pictures are both surreal and mundane; characterised by their pastel hues and uncanny compositions. They tease a story, but then snatch it away at the last minute. “Satellite suburbs like Wellard pop up as strange secluded utopias surrounded by the Australian bush,” he adds. “It is the uncanny perfection of the Private Estate I’m interested in.”