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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 Happy Birthday Dr H C Nugget Coombs (1906-1997)     Some years ago, my husband Brian and I collaborated on a series of articles for the Canberra Times; he wrote the article and I provided the photograph. The articles were about both the photo session, and the person being photographed. Nugget Coombs was, quite simply, one of the […]

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Ardent Indigenous Australian Women – Part 6Beach Combing Tiwi Style  Part 6 of a series of portraits of Ardent Indigenous Australian Women by photographer Heide Smith. After an hour on various dirt tracks, we arrive at the open Timor sea. The sun comes up suddenly, harsh and hot. The glare from the white sand hurts my […]

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Ardent Indigenous Australian 4 WomenSunset Story One image from the Sunset Story Series, was used as the Cover Photograph for the “Bringing them home” report for the “National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Children from Their Families”, in 1997. Part 4 of a series of portraits of Ardent Indigenous Australian Women by […]

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Women of ParuPart 3 of a series of portraits of Ardent Indigenous Australian Women by photographer Heide Smith. Marjorie Wonnamirri  Paru Melville Island 1987 – portrait by Heide Smith Paru is a small place on the west coast of Bathurst Island, just over the Apsley straight from Nguiu – now called Wurrumiyanga –  on Melville Island. It […]

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Fellow of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography Fellow of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography On Tuesday evening at the Australian Professional Photography Awards Dinner in Sydney, I became a Fellow of the AIPP. I knew that I was to receive some sort of honour, and I had therefore prepared an acceptance speech. However, […]

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