52 Suburbs Around the World by Louise Hawson

In 2009/2010 Sydneysider, Louise Hawson, realised she was a stranger in her own city. So she spent a year exploring and photographing one new Sydney suburb a week in search of the beauty in the ‘burb, and shared what she discovered on a blog, 52suburbs.com.au

The blog developed a strong following and in 2011 evolved into a book and a major exhibition – and the inspiration for this second project, 52 Suburbs Around the World.

Louise plans to spend 2012 visiting seven famous cities, including Berlin, for between one to three months each, bypassing the postcard clichés to explore and photograph their ‘unfamous’ side – their suburbs. Her aim is to show these ‘over-photographed’ cities in a new light.

How? Well, not only will she be ignoring the big flashy bits that you normally see and celebrating ‘ordinary beauty’ instead. She’ll also be presenting many of her images as diptychs (two images side by side) with a caption. It’s a playful way of presenting images that allows her to make connections between seemingly unrelated things and to tell mini stories.

Her eight year old daughter, Coco, will accompany Louise. Living out of a suitcase and doing home schooling will replace the normal routines of life at home – how will they both fare?

Join Louise and Coco as they explore 52 ‘ordinary’ suburbs in seven extraordinary cities, beyond the icons. We are looking forward to supplying both of them with great shoes for the trip!