Anne Zahalka has been making viewers look twice for nearly four decades. One of Australia’s most respected photo-­media artists, her practice explores shifting notions of Australian identity, challenges cultural stereotypes and highlights the changing ­relationship between people and the natural world. Back in 1995, Zahalka decided to turn her gaze towards a more personal subject. Her series Open House, recently exhibited at a major retrospective of the artist’s work, is a collection of tableaux vivants that depict Zahalka’s friends in the interiors of their homes, surrounded by the décor and detritus of their daily lives. In this interview, Zahalka talks to Griffith Review Editor Carody Culver about our intimate connections to objects and the strange temporal magic of the photographic medium.

CARODY CULVER: Open House is a particularly personal series for you. What drew you to explore this domestic context?