This is My Country { 5 galleries }

This Is My Country looks at people standing on the precipice of life: disenfranchised, neglected and now threatened with displacement.
It is a permanent record intended to bring attention to the plight of Aboriginal communities under threat.
It will serve as a call to Australian society to support their First People and end the displacement of their communities.
©Ingetje Tadros

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This is My Country edited version

40 images

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following images may contain images of deceased persons. Tadros’s, ‘This is My Country’ is a compelling look at people balanced on the precipice of life, who for the most part are disenfranchised, neglected, and often forgotten. “Her images, confronting but always compassionate, communicate the plight of Aboriginals in Australia but also in sharp contrast and present moments of hope. Her work stands out from other photographers who have documented Australia’s indigenous inhabitants because of her collaborative approach and becoming a stakeholder in the people’s lives she is documenting,” says, Dr Jack Picone, Visiting Assistant Professor, Visual Studies Department, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. To document Australia’s indigenous people, Tadros based in Broome Western Australia travels to remote regions of Australia’s vast and unforgiving outback, and spends time in Aboriginal communities. Ingetje recalls, “I witnessed a high incidence of alcoholism, domestic violence, general health issues, an alarming frequency of suicide - communities fractured and in distress. I documented sections of communities mismanaged by their governments, not fully understood by a wider aid community, and largely left unseen by the remainder of Australian society”. A voiceless and unseen minority cosigned to lives of quiet desolation. "One day I heard about a young boy, who was lost and who had alcohol syndrome, the whole community went out to look for him, they found him two days later, in a croc infested country where he had been attacked by a croc" and the stories about the suicides in the Communities, suddenly it just hit me and I knew I had to start documenting, the good and the bad and in the hope to give the Aboriginal people a voice as I feel strongly that the Aboriginal people are not treated with the respect they deserve as they are the Original Peoples of this country and there is still till this day so much disrespect and racism, when you sit with the people and hear their stories it becomes obvious how beautiful these people are, there connection with their land, their Country and their family which is something we all can learn from." Ingetje makes photographs that make visible and make heard the plight of the most exposed and vulnerable people in Australian society. Tadros’s, also reveals to us many of the moments that are often under represented in the documentation of Australia’s original inhabitants. The moments of community, family, nurture, spirituality, environment, story - telling and importantly, healing. Powerful and pervading, Tadros’s images, once seen, can’t be ignored and remind us of the power of documentary photography to question, communicate and debate the most pressing social issues facing society today. Most importantly, they remind us not to turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow man. ©Ingetje Tadros
Kennedy Hill

2 galleries

Kennedy Hill is an Aboriginal community in the remote town of Broome in NW- Australia. The community exists in the shadows of Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s commitment to close down approximately 100-150 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. There are more than 270 remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia, home to 12,000 people. Aboriginal Elders and Leaders are shocked and feel closing down communities is a big threat to their people. They believe the impact of such a move will be devastating. Communities are based ‘on Country’. Closing down communities means losing connection to the land in which ancient stories are etched. These stories inform about morals, values and relationships, and are reinforced in Language through song and story at times of ceremony or travel through that Country –there used to be 250 Aboriginal languages before White Invasion. By closing down communities, ancient knowledge that has been passed down through generations will get lost and people will be lost because of this disconnection that nurtures them physically, emotionally and spiritually. Consequently, poverty, disadvantage, alcoholism, unemployment, etc. –which are contained within communities because of ongoing cultural connection– will be relocated and intensified and brought to the bigger towns. History is repeating itself! Australian award-winning Photojournalist Ingetje Tadros has spent four years working with Aboriginal people and has been documenting their confronting daily lives within their communities. Her concerns for Aboriginal people and their communities stretch from the old uninformed line that demonises Aboriginal men by insinuating that Aboriginal women and children are under great threat by the men in the communities, to a lack of affordable accommodation; Over seven per cent of the Kimberley population is homeless and ninety per cent of this homelessness is comprised by its First Peoples. Kennedy Hill, or as the locals refer to it, ‘The Hill’ is significant to Indigenous people in the region.The presence of a large shell midden immediately adjacent to the community is testament to this significance; It’s been a living area and a sacred place since before White Invasion... since time in memorial. Aboriginal people all over the Kimberley are now in fear of losing not only their homes but losing the significant connection to their land and sacred sites. ©Ingetje Tadros/Diimex Winner Walkley Award for Feature/Photographic Essay: In Tadros’ body of work, every picture tells a story that is rich in detail. It takes determination and patience to get stories from remote communities – you have to earn the trust of every single person there. It’s so rare that photojournalists can invest the time to do a story like this and we are rewarded with an insider’s view of this hardscrabble life. https://vimeo.com/129536331 Viewers are warned that the following images may contain images of deceased persons.
One Mile

51 images

A lack of affordable short-term accommodation, combined with Aboriginal people moving in from remote communities, has led to people camping on bush blocks, parks in town, Kennedy Hill and here in One Mile Community. One Mile, located on the outskirts of the tourist town of Broome, has officially been closed down, 2018. Broome, WA. ©Ingetje Tadros (Unfortunately I was travelling overseas therefor I was not able to document.)
Under threat of Closures

2 galleries

About 12,000 Indigenous residents living in small communities in the Western Australian desert, exists in the shadows of plans by the State Government to close down approximately 100-150 of the State’s 270 smaller Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal Elders and Leaders oppose the closing down of the communities, believing the impact will be devastating because these communities are based ‘on Country’ so their closing would mean losing a connection to the land in which ancient stories are etched. In 2011, all families living at Oombulgurri were evicted from their homes after the government of Western Australia deemed the community "unviable". The Government of Western Australia has flattened the Aboriginal homelands community of Oombulgurri in 2014. One Mile Community is demolished in 2018, totally nothing left and unfortunately I was travelling overseas while demolition took place and have not been able to document this. Also as of 2018 only 3 houses are now barely standing in Kennedy Hill. I have documented demolition of several houses in Kennedy Hill. The Kimberley, Western Australia. ©Ingetje Tadros
Chrissy's 21st

17 images

Chrissy's 21st was celebrated in the Old Office in Kennedy Hill. This office has now been demolished, but what a party it was! ©Ingetje Tadros