Truth about Wool share in Chantel's tour

She is combining her love of photography and wool classing in a national tour called The Truth About Wool.

Across the next two years, she will gather images and stories of hard-working woolgrowers and shearing teams, as well as their sheds, working dogs and the spectacular landscapes of rural Australia.

Some of this material will be posted on social media, but Chantel also intends to publish a book.

She also plans to have a travelling exhibition.

“If people in metropolitan areas could connect with wool and experience it themselves, we could lift many of the myths,” she said.

Eleven years ago, Chantel moved with her partner from Toowoomba, Qld, to his family’s sheep property at Meandarra, Qld.

Chantel had several jobs ‘in town’, but found her calling while roustabouting during their shearing.

“I said ‘oh my god can I do this for a job?’ I absolutely loved it,” she said.

Five years ago, she got her classer’s stencil and has not looked back, loving the buzz of the boards and the lanolin in her hands.

She became an Australian Wool Exchange master classer in 2016. At the same time, her camera was never far away, capturing images of the sheds she worked in.

In early 2016, Chantel started using the hashtag #thetruthaboutwool on some of her social media posts to help counteract the negative publicity being spread by animal activists.

The Truth About Wool national tour evolved from there.

“About the time there was a lot of flak on the wool industry about animal welfare, I started to think my photos and videos could make a difference,” she said.

“People in the city believe what they see – they are relying on us to get that information out about how things are run.”

Momentum has been building on her Chantel Renae Photography Facebook page, with more than 10,000 likes.

One of her woolhandling videos has reached more than 500,000 viewers. 

Chantel’s self-funded The Truth About Wool tour kicked off in WA in March.

Last month, she spent three weeks visiting 14 properties in Tas.

She is back in the sheds raising funds for her next leg of the tour to SA in September, including visiting the Royal Adelaide Show.

“It will be interesting to see how diverse SA is – from the big pastoral stations at the top of SA to the higher rainfall areas down south – and the different challenges farmers and shearing teams have,” she said.

She is looking for anyone involved in SA’s wool industry who wants to share their story, but particularly rural women and the “quiet achievers”.

“I feel like the history of the wool industry has been covered but not the modern day and where we are taking it,” she said. 

 “Everyone has a story to tell – whether it is someone quietly achieving or someone playing a major role in the wool industry. If they are making their little contribution to the industry their story needs to be told.”