The Red Balloon Project is a collection of portraits of Australian fiction authors which began with a portrait of John Birmingham in a toilet block way back in 2006.

Each writer is pictured with a single red balloon in a setting or location that is a place of inspiration, a favourite place from childhood or perhaps somewhere that simply references their work.

With over forty authors including Nikki Gemmel, Bryce Courtenay, Di Morrisey and Steven Toltz having taken part to date, the series is due for completion late 2011. The work draws inspiration from the 1956 French film classic Le Ballon Rouge in which a small boy forms a special bond with a red balloon he finds in the street and, as in the film, here too the balloon signifies hope and imagination.

  follow the balloon