Mr Fluffy book shows magnitude of the asbestos crisis in Canberra

Canberra photographer Jennifer Nagy snapped 750 of the 1122 homes affected by the loose-fill asbestos crisis for her book, 'More Than Bricks and Mortar – the many faces of Canberra's Mr Fluffy homes'.

The book also contains the accounts of 39 homeowners forced to leave everything behind, stories which show the "enormity" of their loss, Ms Nagy said.

"This book is more for the Mr Fluffy homeowners so there is a record of their house and so that people's stories can be heard of what it was like for them to have to go through this," she said.

"It's a very small token but I just feel like it's important they have that."

For Ms Nagy, the Mr Fluffy crisis hit close to home.

She photographed the wedding of a neighbouring couple who were later forced to leave their house.

"I actually photographed that one being demolished and the guys said to me it was one of those houses where they got up in the morning, had their breakfast and walked out and they left all the breakfast plates on everything on the table," she said."

"I just think that's heartbreaking. What would it feel like to wake up in the morning, just eat your breakfast and walk out and just leave everything behind?" 

When photographing the houses, Mr Nagy said she felt saddened by the overgrown gardens and the junk mail stuffed in taped-up letterboxes. 

"The homeowners I'd met early on, I also saw their houses later down the track after they'd been abandoned and there was such a difference from what it looked like when they were living in it to when they walked away," Ms Nagy said.

The book also addressed the uncertainty felt by those forced out of their homes by asbestos.

"There was an amazing story by Terry and Barbara Bennett where they talk about how they stored their Christmas decorations up in the roof cavity of the house where the asbestos was so they themselves had gone through the roof cavity with all the asbestos. For themselves they are not worried, but they are worried for their children," Ms Nagy said.

"When they were told they had to leave they couldn't sleep at night wondering what was going to happen to them and where would they go, they just didn't know what was going to happen to them. They also said you can't explain to anyone what it is, the anguish that you're feeling."

While many Mr Fluffy homeowners just wanted to put the crisis behind them, others had a hard time letting go, she said.

"The people who've had no asbestos readings in their  homes have found it the hardest," Ms Nagy said. 

"They don't really understand why the government drew the line in the sand where they did. They are really finding it hard to come to terms with it."