Noosa Photography Co ~ Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country
Noosa Photography Co ~ Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country
Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country is at the heart of everything this work stands for. The camera has been present on this land at moments that mattered. Family celebrations. Sacred ceremonies. Cultural performances. Quiet personal sessions between people who trusted the lens enough to be themselves in front of it. Through all of it the understanding has remained the same. Photography on this Country carries a responsibility. To the land. To the people. To the stories that were here long before the camera arrived and will remain long after.
This page is a quiet acknowledgement of that responsibility and the relationships that have shaped this work.
Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country
Noosa Photography Co acknowledges the Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi people as the Traditional Custodians of the Sunshine Coast and Noosa region. Their connection to this Country spans tens of thousands of years. Their stories, their knowledge and their culture are living and present in every corner of this landscape and they deserve to be treated that way.
We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
Photography, Country and shared stories begin here. With this acknowledgement. With this land. With the understanding that every photograph made on this Country is made within a context that is older and deeper than the moment being captured.
Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country ~ The Responsibility of the Lens
A camera is not neutral. Every photograph is a choice about what to show, how to show it and whose story is being told. On this Country that choice carries particular weight. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a long and complicated history with photography. Images have been taken without permission, without context and without care. They have been used to diminish and to reduce living cultures to objects of curiosity.
That is not this work and it has never been this work.
Noosa Photography Co has been trusted with moments that sit at the intersection of culture, ceremony and community. Some of those sessions have been at public cultural events on this Country. Some have been private commissions of deep personal and cultural significance. Some of the images made in those sessions will never be published. Not because they are not beautiful but because they belong to the people and the stories they came from.
Photography, Country and shared stories means understanding that some stories are not yours to tell. Honouring that boundary is part of the work.
Lyndon Davis
Lyndon Davis is a Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi Elder, artist, musician and cultural leader whose work has shaped the cultural life of this region. There is a deep personal respect for Lyndon that goes beyond the professional relationship. It has been earned over time, through presence, through listening and through the privilege of being trusted to be there with a camera at all.
It has been a privilege to document Lyndon performing on Country across many events and gatherings over the years. To watch him work is to watch someone who carries the full weight and beauty of his culture in every movement and every sound.
There is something that happens when Lyndon plays. The sound of the didgeridoo does not just travel through the air. It moves through the ground, through the trees, through every person present. It connects. It grounds. It reminds you of exactly where you are and how long this place has been held by the people who belong to it.
Photography, Country and shared stories do not get more direct than that.
These images were made because that sound and that presence deserved to be witnessed properly. Not as a record of a performance but as an acknowledgement of what it means to watch a custodian of this Country do what his culture has always done on this land.
The photographs from those sessions are part of a shared story between this Country, its custodian and the lens that was present to witness it.
Glenn Barry
There is a mountain above the Noosa hinterland that looks out over the entire region. Standing on its summit you can see Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi Country stretching in every direction. The Noosa River. The lakes. The coast. The hinterland. All of it held in the same landscape that has been home to the same people for tens of thousands of years.
Glenn Barry is a Gamilaraay man who grew up on the Gold Coast and has become one of the most respected Aboriginal artists and cultural educators in South East Queensland. A Deputy Chair of Griffith University’s Council of Elders and board director of the Swell Sculpture Festival, Glenn’s work spans art, music, cultural education and community leadership. He was there that morning as a friend.
The event had global significance. It was being broadcast around the world and we were there on that summit to witness it. A glorious sunrise had been promised. Mother nature had different ideas entirely. Instead she sent a rolling cloud formation that moved across the mountain and swallowed the view completely. The landscape disappeared into a thick misty fog and for a moment nobody quite knew what to do.
Then Glenn raised the didgeridoo.
What happened next was something none of us fully understood until afterward. The mist did not diminish the moment. It made it sacred. The sound moved out into that white stillness and carried across Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi Country in a way that a clear sunny morning never could have allowed. The fog held the sound. The mountain held us all.
Photography, Country and shared stories. That is what those images hold. Not the sunrise that never came but something far more powerful that arrived in its place.
Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country ~ Shared Stories
Photography, Country and shared stories is not a tagline. It is a responsibility that has shaped this work on this land. The relationships behind the images on this page were built with care and with genuine respect for the people and the culture they carry.
Noosa Photography Co has had the privilege of working with Aboriginal artists on private commissions and collaborative portrait projects that go far deeper than a standard photography session. Some of that work is documented elsewhere on this site. Some of it will never be shown publicly. All of it has contributed to an understanding of what it means to photograph with genuine intention on Country.
Dr Jandamarra Cadd is a Yorta Yorta man from Victoria who lives and works on the Sunshine Coast as a deeply respected artist and art teacher. The commission Noosa Photography Co undertook with Jandamarra is documented in its own dedicated post. It was private, sacred and one of the most meaningful pieces of work in this portfolio.
Samantha Martin, the Bush Tukka Woman, is a Jaru woman born in the East Kimberley who has dedicated her life to preserving and sharing First Nations knowledge of bush foods, survival skills and cultural practice. The VOICE. TREATY. TRUTH portrait series created together in Far North Queensland is documented in its own dedicated post and stands as one of the most significant collaborative bodies of work Noosa Photography Co has produced.
If you are a cultural organisation, community group, First Nations artist or individual looking for a photographer who will approach your work with care and genuine respect for Country, get in touch.
To read more visit the testimonials page or leave your own review on Google.
Noosa Photography Acknowledging Country ~ Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the Traditional Custodians of the Noosa and Sunshine Coast region?
The Kabi Kabi and Gubbi Gubbi people are the Traditional Custodians of the Sunshine Coast and Noosa region with a connection to this Country spanning tens of thousands of years. Noosa Photography Co acknowledges their custodianship and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
Does Noosa Photography Co have experience photographing First Nations cultural events?
Yes. Noosa Photography Co has been photographing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultural events and ceremonies with care and respect. Every session is approached with permission and genuine respect for the culture and stories involved.
How does Noosa Photography Co handle culturally sensitive photography?
With complete discretion and respect. Understanding what can and cannot be shared publicly is a fundamental part of how this work is approached. Some of the most meaningful work in this portfolio will never be published and that is completely as it should be.
How do I get in touch about a cultural photography project on the Sunshine Coast?
Get in touch via the enquiry page with details about your project and the Noosa Photography Co team will come back to you to discuss how to work together respectfully and professionally.
