Published Books

 

Tasmanian Gardens - by Meg Bignell and Alice Bennett

From north to south, east to west and everything in between, here are 20 Tasmanian gardens that capture the landscape, the story and the spirit of this abundant island. Tasmanian Gardens reimagines the very definition of a garden. It goes beyond perfect lawns and beautiful borders to the people, places and stories that inhabit this contrasting island state. From vast coastal headlands and kelp forests to gorgeous flower farms and gnome collections, the gardens of lutruwita/Tasmania are as diverse as they are delightful.

Photographer Alice Bennett and author Meg Bignell explore the gardens and landscapes of the island and unearth a whole library of tales told in plants, design, artistry, topography and very hard work. This book is a celebration of lutruwita/Tasmania from coast to mountain and suburb to town, where every garden is a story and every gardener is a storyteller.

 
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Country Houses of Tasmania

Photography by Alice Bennett, Written by Georgia Warner.

Published by Allen & Unwin, 2009.

Tucked into the folds of Tasmania’s wild landscape is an array of beautiful historic homes from a time when life was simpler and grander—and perhaps more of an adventure. 

From the landed gentry to convicts who’d won their freedom, early pastoral settlers of Tasmania created an antipodean England in the elaborate Georgian and Victorian mansions they built. Alice Bennett and Georgia Warner have collected together the stories of these houses, and of the people who have passed through them over the years. Many of today’s owners are descendants of the original builders, and all are dedicated to the preservation of that hidden architectural heritage. 

The homes you enter in this book are privately owned. Unless you are part of their owner’s inner circle you might not have even known they existed. So the next time you glimpse a Georgian chimneypot over the top of a high hedge in rural Tasmania, or view a stately pile off in the distance down a tree-lined drive, open Country Houses of Tasmania and you will know what rare treasures lie inside.

 

Bream Creek Farmers Market - The Cook Book

 

Photography by Alice Bennett, Text and Styling by Katharine Burke, Food Editor Eloise Emmett.

Published 2013 Ian Wallace Publishing.

“The fertile regions of Bream Creek, Dunalley and the Tasman Peninsula are perfectly suited for growing Tasmania’s best and freshest produce.  This lovingly produced book provides recipes for cooking with this abundance and variety of products, practical tips for the gardener and backyard grower as well as sensational photography and information about this beautiful region.  It is a ‘must’ for every cook and kitchen.” Sally Wise

This book was made as a community fundraiser for the Bream Creek Farmers market and the Dunalley Primary School.

Living in History

Photography by Alice Bennett, Written by Georgia Warner.

Published by Allen & Unwin, 2011.

A beautiful journey in colour to some of the most spectacular and historic houses in Tasmania, filled with surprising stories of the people who inhabit them.

Tasmania's first European settlers were a diverse and eclectic lot-men and women from all walks of life who ended up cast together in a far-flung colony at the end of the world, where adversity was commonplace but opportunity abounded.

From former convicts to the highly privileged, they forged their own ways in Van Diemen's land - as farmers, traders, publicans, whalers, businessmen, politicians and more. As they, along with the colony, prospered, they built places of residence and business that stand today as a testament to the quality of Tasmania's early craftsmanship, the wealth of some of its first European residents, and their desire to recreate a piece of home in their new surrounds, no matter how hostile the environment.

Tasmania is blessed that so many of these buildings are intact today. Some have been in the same families since the 1820s, others have been saved from ruin or converted into homes after previous lives as anything from hop kilns to coach houses and public schools. All have fascinating stories to tell that reflect the diversity of those early settlers, the adversities they faced and the opportunities they harnessed, as well as of the characters that inhabit them today.

Living in History tells some of these stories through sumptuous photos of Tasmania's most historically and architecturally significant buildings, complemented by text that transports the reader back in time and takes them through to the present, where the current generation of homeowners is literally living in history.

 
 
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Africa

Photography by Alice Bennett and Philip Kuruvita

Published, 2008

Photography and travel are the two great loves of award winning Master Photographers Philip Kuruvita and Alice Bennett.

Two very different photographers and two very different trips to a vast continent, brought together in this beautiful photographic record of Africa.