Heide Smith’s Portraits of Noted Australians 1971-2023   I have photographed Portraits of Noted Australians since my arrival in Australia. In all, for over 50 years. I have had a Gallery of Noted Australians on my website since day one, but it was merely one of many galleries. The books and the many exhibitions of my Tiwi, […]

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 Exhibition in Hameln Germany 25 Aug 2023  Heide Smith Soltsien – Master of Light and Shade  Recently I was approached by the Hameln Stadt Museum, nearly 60 years after my departure from Germany, to discuss an exhibition of my images of Hameln, my hometown, I was over the moon. To find that my early work is considered […]

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 Behind the Photograph – Heide Smith’s One Tree Tuross  The story of Heide Smith’s photograph of One Tree Tuross Head began with the bushfires in late 2019, which were unprecedented in their extent and intensity. This was followed by unusually heavy rainfall in the catchment area of the Tuross River in early 2020. The result was […]

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 Heide Smith’s Tiwi Collection – Tiwi Culture    Pukamani  CeremonyThe image above shows a Pukamani Mortuary Ceremony. The description below is taken from The Tiwi College Brochure.”Performance of this ceremony ensures that the spirit of the dead person goes from the living world into the spirit world. The Pukamani is a public ceremony and provides a forum […]

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Heide Smith’s Tiwi Collection – Bush Tucker Sarah Puruntatameri eating Urili Worm 1988  Going bush with my Tiwi friends meant I had to live and eat and sleep as they did. No eski’s or barbecue’s then. The one thing I did take , was my Muesli and nuts.When Gerardine was roasting a ‘flying fox’ over the fire, I […]

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Heide Smiths Tiwi Collection – Village Kids Mary Dechantel Timaepetua 1988  Children are meant to smile and be happy!  Aren’t they? Mary Dechantel Timaepetua was not unhappy. She was simply being herself. The smiles come either readily from the very young, or you know it is meant to be a pleasing gesture.I loved being in the company […]

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Child of the Rainforest Heide Smiths Tiwi CollectionChildren of the RainforestClear warm seas rich in fish and other marine creatures are flanked by large stands of mangroves, rocky headlands and beautiful clean white sandy beaches. Some of those “creatures” include crocodiles (salties), box jellyfish and sharks, so swimming in the sea can be deadly. Fortunately, there […]

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Heide Smiths Tiwi Collection- My adventure begins Off to Tarantippi Beach 1987  You may have seen this post before. I used it to introduce a series called “Ardent Indigenous Australian Women”. My apologies, but it perfectly describes my introduction to the Tiwi, and particularly my introduction to Gerardine.It was ‘Dry Season’  1987 when I first set foot […]

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Heide Smiths Tiwi Collection – How it all started   in the beginningEven as a teenager I had dreams of visiting indigenous people on the globe somewhere. When we emigrated to Australia, my thoughts often wandered to the OUTBACK of Australia, wanting to meet the FIRST AUSTRALIANS. When we moved to Canberra an opportunity arose and I took […]

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The Worlds Oldest Civilisation – Indigenous AustraliansHeide Smiths Tiwi Collection   Ngiya Mamante Tiwi -My Friends the Tiwi50,000 years ago, the Tiwi people settled on Bathurst and Melville Islands 60 km north of Darwin Australia. The Tiwi are Indigenous Australians, the world’s oldest civilisation.12,000 years ago, the last ice age ended, resulting in sea levels around the […]

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