Tall Poppy Syndrome

Book excerpt: In 2010, American photographers Amy Stein (born 1970) and Stacy Arezou Mehrfar (born 1977) embarked on a month-long road trip throughout New South Wales, one of the six states that make up Australia. They were interested in investigating the Australian social phenomenon of the Tall Poppy Syndrome, in which successful people, or the “tall poppies,” get “cut down to size,” and are resented or ridiculed because their talents or achievements distinguish them from their peers. Is the syndrome real? Can it be documented or observed? Can a Tall Poppy hide in plain sight? Stein and Mehrfar set out to explore quintessential Australian life and find what evidence they could of the existence of this syndrome. They spent their days meeting and photographing everyday Australians—from schoolchildren in their plaid uniforms to young surfers playing at the beach to grandmothers meeting at their social clubs—all the while learning about the relationship between the group and the individual within Australian society. The resulting photographs in Tall Poppy Syndrome present their investigation into and observations of Australian society.