Speaking For Country - A Revisit

In 2005 at what felt like "the tender" age of 23 I packed my bags and 20 disposable camera's and headed to the tiny town of Onslow in Western Australia. A friend Mandy Jean had approached me to collaborate on a project teaching Indigenous women photography.  We worked with women from Onslow and Roebourne aged between 18 and 75. We had a 10 day adventure. The project culminated in an exhibition called Speaking for Country: Indigenous Women Telling Stories.

After the exhibition the project was packed up and stored for the last 7 years in my mums dusty shed in Yandoit. I only stumbled upon it a few weeks ago. It was such a pleasure to see real film again and revisit these images.

Here are some of my favorite images and also some articles with more info.

Ladies at Python Pool - This is a sacred place for women. We ate Kangaroo tails and tried to catch fish. I was really nervous taking this photograph - it was a pretty power place and the women talked only in their language.  This photo shows how strong their connection to the land. One lady said, "Our land is like the Vatican to the Catholics".

Aunty Pansy wanted me to take her photograph right here. This is where she was born many moons ago.

We traveled in a mini bus. Bumping along dusty roads picking up the women along the way. We found Aunty Sandy waiting for us dressed in her favorite yellow dress.

The first group of elders were really old. They hadn't used camera's before so often they would take photos without looking through the viewfinder. It was natural and we all laughed a lot. They called me the "little one".

This lady in blue asked me to take a photo of her in the river bed. This was the last place she had seen all her 7 children alive.  Sadly 4 of her children had passed away.

Mandy and I stayed here.

This local cowboy took me on a roadtrip. His skin matched his ute.

On the last day I was taken to the house of a young guy called Stereo. It was rough...really rough. He and I bonded over Bob Dylan and he let me take is photo of him relaxing on the verandah.

Here we all are at Python Pool.