There’s so much I love about this photograph taken in the Brisbane backyard of Granny Maddalena and Nonno Vitale’s house… everyone under the Hills hoist, Granny bending over giggling, the woman’s arm around her. Nonno Anni looking over to see what they’re laughing at, Nanna Francesca always ready for the camera, holding the young boy who doesn’t look so keen to be in the photo.
I love too the pawpaw tree and monstera plant behind them, the Queenslander on stumps and corrugated-iron stove area jutting from the kitchen above, where I can picture Granny standing stirring her minestrone. Even that the photo is a bit blurry with too much foreground is endearing, as is Nonno Vitale bending a little to make sure he’s in the picture (though he did have a bad back after years of cane-cutting and labouring jobs!)
Most of all, I love how when friends or family came to visit, (on those rare occasions that everyone wasn’t working!) they’d all put on their good clothes, get out the good coffee cups and make sure a photo was taken to mark the occasion. As many of you will know, for migrant families who had to say goodbye – sometimes forever – to family and friends on the other side of the world, creating extended family among those around you was especially important, whether you were related or not, and there’s something so lovely in that. Zoë x
Zoë Boccabella 