My name is Grace Auld & I'm a 22-year-old Kanolu person based on Boon Wurrung Country. I use any pronouns (they/she). In 2024, I completed a Bachelor of Media & Communications at Swinburne University of Technology, co-majoring in Indigenous Studies. I've always loved photography but it was in November 2021 that I realised I could pursue it as a hobby or even a career, and I've been practicing ever since. I consider myself a novice photographer as, although I have certainly honed my skills since 2021, I still have many things to learn.
In my work I aim to highlight power, pride & beauty at the margins - whether it’s a rally in the city, a musical performance or a small-scale community event, I strive to capture Blak and LGBTQIA+ experiences. I hope to embody the notion that ‘existence is resistance’ in my work; when the colony’s existence is predicated upon the marginalisation & annihilation of Blak people & cultures, being a proud Blackfulla in so-called Australia is an act of resistance. Likewise, in a cisheteronormative society that believes merely existing as a LGBTQIA+ person is ‘pushing an agenda’ and something to be quashed, daring to be oneself is courageous. For queer & trans Blackfullas, the radical power inherent in thriving in spite of the colony is twofold.
To quote Prof. Chelsea Watego, the prefixes of Blak, queer and gender non-conforming "makes clear not only who I am, but who I am here for [and] who I labour for".
None of us are free until all of us are free.
photo credit to the canberra times