A budding photographer from one of the most remote parts of the Northern Territory has travelled to Melbourne to launch a series of photographs showing the abysmal living conditions rife in her community.
Garrwa/Yanyuwa woman Miriam Charlie has lived in Borroloola, almost 1,000 kilometres from Darwin in the Gulf of Carpentaria, her whole life.
The town has repeatedly been promised new houses and upgrades, with the state and federal Governments in 2008 committing $1.7 billion for housing across the NT, including $14.6 million for Borroloola.
But disputes over the location for the new dwellings mean many citizens still live in tin sheds and rundown public housing.
Ms Charlie said the photographs were a way for other Australians to see how her community lived.
"I called this series, My Country, No Home - because we have a country, but no home," Ms Charlie said.
"I saw my cousin, he lives in a tin shack, with no electricity, no sewerage, and he has to walk 400 metres away to use the toilet.
"I live in the community, I grew up there, I live there, I've seen the changes and how many houses were built, what houses were built from what time, and still those houses still here - those same houses."
Supplied: Miriam Charlie
From the red dirt of Borroloola to Melbourne's laneways
One day Miriam Charlie's grandmother showed her where her ceiling was nearly collapsing from a white ant infestation.
"I took a photo as evidence to show to the people who repair things, and that started the ball rolling," Ms Charlie said.
"The project is not to shame people, but to show the people how we're living in Borroloola."
Ms Charlie contacted Alice Springs-based professional photographer Rhett Hammerton, who had previously conducted a workshop in Borroloola.
"I could see that Miriam had a really strong eye for photography," Mr Hammerton said.
"We became Facebook friends, and late last year Miriam called me out of the blue and told me she really wanted to do this series, and I jumped at the chance because I knew that working one-on-one with her would be amazing."
Mr Hammerton travelled to Borroloola a number of times, to mentor Ms Charlie on the history of documentary photography and how her work might be composed.
"That really clicked with Miriam, and she was off and going. She already knew all of the people and how she wanted to document it all," he said.
The series is now ready for display at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne.
Curator Pippa Milne said Ms Charlie's work was a perfect fit for its latest exhibition which looks at the concept of social contracts within society.
"Miriam is telling a contemporary, remote Indigenous story and as far as I'm concerned represents a turning point," Ms Milne said.
