Australian photographer celebrates indigenous heritage at French festival

Hailing from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Lockyer has taken three flights and a train to get to La Gacilly and is excited to discover the layout of her first formal exhibition in France.

Large-scale portraits of indigenous Australian faces both young and old emerge from the greenery of a quiet garden overlooking the Aff river.

“I’m a Kariyarra, Ngarluma, Nyul Nyul and Yawuru woman. That means I’m an Aboriginal woman from the saltwater country,” Lockyer tells RFI, by way of introduction.

Lockyer grew up in the coastal town of Port Hedland, known in local languages as Marrapikarinya, and is raising her four young sons there. It is a natural haven for seabirds, turtles and dolphins, among other species.

She goes on to explain indigenous cultures’ complex system of totems, symbols inspired by nature and attributed to each person according to their family lineage. Represented by the pelican, her responsibility is to take care of the ocean and its creatures.

Lockyer’s exhibition in La Gacilly is called "Origins" and it brings together themes close to her heart: family, motherhood and protecting Mother Earth.

Reconnecting with the land

Several photographs are from her series "Birthing on Country". She documented young families who chose to return to the land of their indigenous ancestors to have their children following traditional customs.

Pregnant women stare proudly at the camera, fathers with body paint cradle their newborns, babies lie peacefully asleep in birds’ nests. Two of Lockyer’s own sons peek out from leafy frames.

“It’s about connecting our young ones with their country and taking care of the land and sharing our stories,” she says, explaining that because of their homes in remote communities, many Aboriginal women end up moving to big towns to have their babies in modern hospitals and as a result, lose vital contact with their land and their families.

Australia has always had a fraught relationship with its indigenous people, who since the colonisation by Britain in the 1780s have been victims of massacres, followed by various abusive and racist assimilation policies.

Children were often separated from their parents and grandparents to be educated into European ways. As a result, they often grew up unaware of their links to indigenous heritage and missed out on hearing the oral histories that died out with their elders.

However, a lucky few, like Lockyer, have been able to maintain these links, even if the transmission of stories has evolved over time.

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As a painter and fashion designer as well as a photographer, Lockyer understands the power of image and colour to convey messages beyond linguistic and cultural divides.

“Photography is always able to open up conversations and create awareness,” she smiles.

“I’m a very visual person. A lot of people don’t learn from just reading but they will learn from seeing the images and seeing what exactly we’re trying to tell.”

'Harmony imbalance'

That makes photography a powerful tool for drawing attention to environmental issues, too.

Port Hedland is Australia’s largest shipping harbour for iron ore and other mining activities that, besides boosting the economy, have created health issues due to toxic dust released into the atmosphere.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the damage the mining industry has done on our land and even the sea country with the port there and seeing how it’s displaced our people,” Lockyer says. Sadly, she adds, a “harmony imbalance will always be there”.

But Lockyer is adamant that photographing and recording her people’s strong connection to the landscape despite these challenges is a way of strengthening their links. The more pride people take in their natural and cultural heritage, she believes, the more likely they are to work towards protecting it.

“It’s hard to describe but for me, it’s always about making that connection back to our country, making that connection back to our stories.”

La Gacilly Photo Festival runs until 3 November 2024.