Dunsborough based photographer Josh Ball is en route to Kalgoorlie to continue his successful portrait series, Art of Connection.
The series, which began in July while he was travelling through Slovenia, has gone viral.
One of his posts of 95-year-old farmer Francka with her “Ferrari” tractor has reached 3.5 million views and gained media attention with a double page spread of Mr Ball’s work in Slovenian newspaper Večer.
Another post of Mr Ball taking the portrait of elderly electrician Jože, who eagerly grabbed his chainsaw for the photo, has amassed 464k views.
In his signature storytelling style, Mr Ball approaches interesting looking people, introduces himself, and asks if he can take their portrait.
The interaction is recorded via his wearable Ray Ban Meta glasses and, with permission from his subject, the interaction is shared on his Instagram feed @joshball_images along with the final portraits taken on his Canon R5 camera.
“I thought I was just taking portraits, but what I found was the lost art of connection,” Mr Ball says.
“Through my camera, strangers became friends, and their stories reached millions, proving that in a world of technology and noise, human connection is what we all crave.”
On Saturday (4/10/25), Mr Ball travels to Kalgoorlie to replicate his feel-good storytelling posts.
“I tested the portrait series format to see if it would work in Australia. I met a young trucker called Chevy in Chittering and took his portrait at a service station, and within 36 hours that post gained more than 320,000 views,” the 37-year-old photographer said.
“This started as a way for me to connect with locals while I was travelling, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone – I was approaching total strangers to ask them if I could take their photo, often with a language barrier, and it’s turned into something beautiful and I’m excited to see where this goes.
“From nine posts on Instagram, my followers grew from 10,700 to more than 25,000 in just two weeks, it’s crazy, and I’m currently at 40,000 followers – it shows that the authentic art of connecting with people resonates, and I genuinely love doing it.
“It’s a privilege when someone agrees to have their portrait taken, I don’t take that lightly.”
Mr Ball shares the portraits with his subjects, and wherever possible, tags them in his posts.
For the next three days, Mr Ball plans to take portraits of characters in Kalgoorlie and at the historic Perkolilli Red Dust Revival motorsport race that is only held once every three years. It features 250 cars and motorcycles from 1914 to 1939 that race on the claypans 45 minutes from Kalgoorlie.
Fabulate featured Josh Ball as a fast-growing Australian creator in its August update. Josh Ball is a lifestyle, brand and portrait photographer and educator.
For more information visit www.joshballimages.com.au
