Me and mum at Yulara, near Uluru in Oct 2022
Why I do it
‘My mother's Grandfather, Jimmie Barker was one of the last Murrawarri language speakers, learning from his family & the fragmented tribal survivors he met in his youth at the turn of the 19th century.
He grew up on the Brewarrina Mission with a curiosity for learning, culture and technology that he shared with whom he could. He was also one of the first people in Australia to work on audio recording technology through experiments with wax cyclinders in his youth. Later in life, being a self-taught engineer, a box camera photography enthusiast, and at the end of his life a language and history recordist. Documenting what he could remember from his early days and his remaining contemporaries. His photography was of simple composition and documented his family life on the mission as it was.
Being one of up to that point and possibly the only example of an Australian indigenous person who self-directed recording of language, creating the largest collection of an indigenous language in Australia.
Jimmie contributed to a near complete collection of his Murrawarri language with his contemporaries Emily Horneville, and The Campbell Brothers, Ruby Shillingsworth. His work has been carried on and is being formed into a modern dictionary that his grandson Roy Barker Jnr is creating with a team of linguists in the present day. Over 50 years ago in 1968, he said “Today with the modern recorder, I hope to contribute and add something of value, I’ve often thought of writing a dictionary of the dialect but haven’t done so. Today I have to take the words down at random and perhaps leave the rest for the erghh computers” Hearing that blew me away.
Photo of Dad in Glebe in his early days rocking them flaressss
Who I am
I am a Murrawarri/Ngiyambaa/Wiradjuri Photographer, Videographer, and Producer based in Sydney, who amplifies the voices of those around me. I grew up in Dubbo but spent most of my school holidays in Brewarrina around my family and am privileged to know my bloodlines, know my family, be a part of the community of Brewarrina and contribute to it’s growth through my unique skillset.
What I do
I work part-time as Digital Producer for Moogahlin Performing Arts. Care-taking over our website, social media presence, basic design of posters, performance programs, live streams, digital works, and production hardware/software, keeping our performing arts company up to date with the latest technology that enables us to do more. I also contribute through videography, interviewing our artists and community of performers sharing the story of Moogahlin through video and stills content for our social media, that I edit and produce in addition to the community of photographers we bring to our shows and performances.
Outside of Moogahlin I am a filmmaker and content producer, across music videos, social media content, multicamera documentation of live performances, livestreams and have recently taken a more serious step into photography. Which has been hella scary but fun.
Photo of Jimmie on the mission, found last year in a collection of negatives, that I digitized and contributed to the Jimmie Barker collection at AIATSIS
Me and mum at Yulara, near Uluru in Oct 2022
The other major influence on why I do what I do is my dad Eric Wilson. A farmers son from Trangie NSW who through his dedication to Law ana Justice as an activist, sollcitor and then barrister, actively saved people's lives by keeping them from a life of continual incarceration. Sitting on the soil with the Barkindji of Wilcannia, he served through his work at the Western Aboriginal Legal Service contributing to their blockades at Mutawintji (where he met my mum), their land buybacks of several pastoral stations, protests in Sydney, and legal representation of people against a system that were harshly and often times falsely locked up. Driving thousands of kilometres, from Broken Hill, to Brewarrina, to Dubbo every year in the Western District of NSW. Sleeping on people's floors, keeping his car going at one point with nothing but torn shirt and neck tie. His dedication is something I truly aspire to.
All the while taking fly-on-the wall photos that I emulate through my work. A couple of his photos I’ll attach here.
