Melissa, Sandra and Meeky, Redfern 2007.

This was in late December and their building on Walker Street was scheduled for demolition: they had to pack up and be ready to leave a week before Christmas. Melissa’s father Frank didn’t know where the family would be living in the new year.

Melissa has great energy and humour and was a huge help to me in letting me photograph her family and friends – and introducing me to a lot of other people. I remember she said to me at the time: “Tom, what are you going to do? You’re not going to get anywhere with your photography!” I consoled myself by remembering she preferred colour pictures…