Women of the Hunter in Photography IWD Portrait Project
This International Women’s Day, Newcastle’s CBD came alive with WH!P (Women of the Hunter In Photography) Collective’s multi-location multimedia portrait project, We Are – highlighting the creative women of Newcastle.
We Are is an IWD portrait project featuring 20 WH!P Collective members turning their lenses towards fellow female and non-binary creatives to highlight the cultural, social, and creative benefits that a thriving and diverse artistic community brings to our city and region.
WH!P was founded in 2020 to embrace and create opportunities for Professional Women* Photographers from the Hunter Region by leveraging the combined skills, experience, and credentials of its members.
Through fostering a culture of support, celebration, exchange, education, advocacy, action, enjoyment, play, and growth, WH!P aspires to actively raise the profile of contemporary photographic excellence, education, and experimentation in the Hunter region and to work collaboratively with those both within and beyond the local area who share our belief; that the world is shown through a lens as diverse as the real world.
Kicking starting the project on Monday, 6th of March, saw WH!P Collective members install paste-ups and posters of the portraits on our iconic Post Office building on Hunter St, and across a selection of CBD shopfronts. Each poster comes complete with a QR code encouraging passersby to dive into the backstory of the portrait and the photographer.
On Wednesday, 8th of March, Laman St came to life thanks to Newcastle Art Gallery with large flags with selected portraits displayed with corresponding QR codes providing the public the opportunity to learn more about individual portraits and the project as a whole.
Photographers and the stories of each project can be explored below…
- Self Portrait by Kate Binnie (she/her)
- Brontë Naylor (she/her) by Wednesday Sutherland (she/her)
- Laura Johnson (she/her) by Simone de Peak (she/her)
- The Ilume Girls by Renae Saxby (she/her)
- Ellie Hannon (she/her) by Peta Lumley (she/her)
- Petra Hilsen (she/her) by Melanie Muddle (she/her)
- Elizabeth McDonald (she/her) by Louise Faulkner (she/her)
- Nicole Monks (she/her) by Lotte Lily Hilder (she/her)
- Maria Jose Sanchez (she/her) by Lotte Lily Hilder (she/her)
- Kiasmin by Lee Illfield (she/her)
- Pat Davidson (she/her) by Katherine Williams (she/her)
- Sophia Emmett (she/her) by Kate Kennedy (she/her)
- Naomi Dart (she/her) by Kate Binnie (she/her)
- Sarah Kokkin (she/her) by Karen Brown (she/her)
- Wolfe (she/they) by Jessica Wright (she/her)
- Lisa Messier (she/her) by Hilda Bezuidenhout (she/her)
- Marie Williams (she/her) by Hannah Robinson (she/her)
- Grace Turner (she/her) by Hannah Robinson (she/her)
- Milika and Eleni by Em Warren (all she/her)
- Sandy Sanderson (she/her) by Edwina Richards (she/her)
- Anne Kempton (she/her) by Edwina Richards (she/her)
- Jane Lander (she/her) by Dominique Ryan (she/her)
- Wendy James (she/her) by Catharine Neilson (she/her)
- Rowena, Juliana, and Angela Foong by Brydie Piaf (all she/her)
Come Friday, 24th of March, The Lock-Up is playing host to an inclusive celebration of creative women. The projects’ culmination will feature projections of the portraits, live music from local artists, an interactive activity with Art Thinking, and the opportunity to connect with our photographers and the wonderful diversity of the women they photographed.
*inclusive of gender diversity.
