Porch Diaries

Welcome to the pre-sales page for Porch Diaries, a community-driven photobook by Brunswick-based photographer Alana Holmberg. If you're viewing this page on mobile, go to 'Rewards' tab at the top of this page to pre-order.

About Porch Diaries 

Porch Diaries reflects on community as a remedy for isolation. Comprising more than two hundred colour photographs, the series features neighbours, strangers, workers and loved ones who passed by my home during the pandemic lockdown months in Melbourne. Initially intended as an act of record-keeping, the accumulation of these daily social interactions provided me with an unexpected discovery: an antidote to loneliness. In that sense, Porch Diaries became a joyful reminder of the opportunities available for connection, friendship and belonging beyond screens and chosen social circles.

Porch Diaries was embraced by my local community, with many people stopping by specifically to participate or simply have a chat after hearing about the series online, from friends and neighbours. The media got wind of the project, and it was featured in both The Age and The Washington Post, and the prints will be exhibited for the first time at Counihan Gallery, Brunswick from 29 May - 11 July 2021.  

About the book 

After many months of preparation, I am now ready to print the Porch Diaries book. The book features a selection of 50 photographs from the series, sequenced chronologically, with accompanying text taken from my diary during and after the making of this series. 

This will be my first photobook and Porch Diaries feels like the perfect series to be realised in book form. We've designed it as a beautiful, locally-made keepsake that functions not only as a physical record of a global moment of history but a celebration of our collective resilience. The book is proudly made in Brunswick and focuses on my local community, but the themes and moments reflected within the Porch Diaries pages are ones shared by many. I can't wait to get this project off my screen and into your hands and homes. 

First edition, 200 copies 

120 pages

230 x 310 mm photobook

Folded softcover with tipped-in image, embossed title and exposed binding. 

Photographs & Text: Alana Holmberg 

Printed by Bambra Press, Melbourne

Designed by Heidi Romano, Unless You Will

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Please note, price includes GST.

Designs may change slightly before going to print. We're still finalizing! 

For the local pickup shipping option, I will nominate a two-day pick-up window in July where all books must be collected from a specific location in Brunswick.

This pre-order campaign is part of a broader fundraising effort to cover the design, print and production of the Porch Diaries photobook and exhibition at Counihan Gallery, Brunswick (18 June -18 July). 

Funds will cover:

• book design
• printing & binding with a Melbourne-based printer 
• image grading
• mentoring
• exhibition prints 

At the moment I have budgeted for a print run of 200 books. 

Initial target: $3500 

Stretch target #1: $6000

Stretch target #2: $8050 - all costs covered!

If I cover all production and other costs associated with the Porch Diaries book and exhibition, 50% of profits from book sales (after pre-sales close) will be donated to Piano Project, a non-profit organization that provides piano lessons and music education to children who might not otherwise be able to afford them. The funds will be used specifically for children in the Moreland municipality. 

If I exceed stretch target #2 I will be able to do a larger print run of the book and add some bells and whistles to the design and production.

Thank you to Moreland Council for supporting the Porch Diaries exhibition via Flourish Artist Recovery Grants and Creative Partnerships Australia for supporting the Porch Diaries book via MATCH Lab. Auspicious Arts Projects are auspicing this project.