Aboriginal Community - Roebourne Outskirts

[RobFellows]

Here is an insight in to the living conditions of an Aboriginal community on the outskirts of Roebourne Western Australia.

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[Wavelength]

Even without the presence of a single person in the images, these images are full of life

[Shadowman]

Considering the environment; looks surprisingly pristine in most of the images. Nice series.

[Manfred M]

Rob - an excellent photo essay on the living conditions of the aboriginal peoples. I know I would end up with similar images if I were to shoot some of the aboriginal settlements in this part of the world, unfortunate, but true.

[Rebel]

Great images Rob, they really tell the story!

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice series, Rob!

[IzzieK]

Robe... this is a neat series... I immediately thought 'Redneck country' because of the last shot...but I changed my mind...whatever skies is visible here, looks good too. Neat place for an aboriginal community...

[TonyW]

These are interesting pictures but the place has an abandoned look about it. I don't see any sign of people living there now. I have visited a few aboriginal settlements and they have all been forlorn heart-rending places but sometimes with one ot two bright features such as art centres.

[RobFellows]

It is mostly abandoned, I get the impression the caravans get used occasionally but that's about it.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Rob,

Relating as someone that's lived all his life in urban environs, but also watched the odd TV programme ...

I am guessing that at some point in time, there were once a lot of people living and working here?
Perhaps on a seasonal basis, but those times seem to have passed for whatever reason.

This is a good series for relating an overview and details of the ex-community; with shots of transport, sleeping, washing, toilet and relaxation areas.
The structures seem to mainly provide shelter from the sun, rather than greater excesses of weather.

Cheers, Dave

PS Not sure if you were looking for it, but if the shots were separated by an extra line each and unambiguously numbered, you might get feedback on specific images.

[John 2]

Even without the presence of a single person in the images, these images are full of life

A life passed by. I couldn't put it better.

[bnnrcn]

Very interesting series, thanks for sharing

[RobFellows]

Thanks for the comments, I have numbered (cheers Dave) to make it a bit easier.

[Dave Humphries]

I think you did a good job with the skies Rob,

What I like about these is that there are sufficient, shot from varying directions, so that I can build a 'mental map' of the place - for some reason, that is something I like to be able to do (always wanting to fully understand a situation) - perhaps I'm a bit weird

For a while, I thought #7 and #8 were the same shot duplicated, until I noticed the 'small' change of focal length. I guess you couldn't decide which to include, so might appreciate knowing which we prefer - I 'vote' is for #7, the wider view.

Compositionally, #9 and #12 are my favourites, but in a series such as this, that probably isn't the most important thing to consider, since you're documenting what's there, as found, so there are limits to what can be achieved.

If I have one suggestion; it would be to explore/work such a location and capture some at different camera shooting heights (e.g. higher and lower) although I accept that in doing that, we would depart the documentary style, largely responsible for us feeling like we've 'been there'. Shooting as I am suggesting would make them more of a 'fine art' series.

For all I know, you might have shot such viewpoints, but decided to limit this series to the documentary style - or perhaps you had time limitations that prevented spending sufficient time to do both.

I feel I am rambling, so it must be time to shut up

HTH, Dave

[Neurai]

Lovely Photos Rob. However I think the description of the set is a little misleading. This is a site of so much more significance than you have given it justice "insight in to the living conditions". This place at times (usually once a year) is a hub for many aboriginal people to come together and practice their Lore and Culture, not just Roebourne but from 1000s of Km all around WA and have been doing so for many many years. To be honest, no one actually lives out here or ever has, and if you got the shots at the right time you would have some really special pictures. Again great pictures! I know these are a year old just wanted to add this to clear up a miss understanding of living conditions as this is simply not the case.

[FootLoose]

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us, Neurai. I don't know anything about Roebourne but I wondered why there were no people in this "community". There is nothing wrong with the images, per se, but the way they have been presented risks (unintentionally) reproducing the kind of "soft" racist discourse that Noel Pearson has accused their abc of promulgating.

[Neurai]

I just wanted to add some extra Info to this post since its here.

Here are three photos from different generations worth of activity at the location of this shoot and a link to some more information about some of the people that use this site in culture and lore activities.
http://www.juluwarlu.com/organisatio.../law-ceremony/

[pnodrog]

Thank you Rob and Neurai.

I enjoy traveling in Australia and have viewed some magnificent Aboriginal art but I always feel uneasy about the treatment these people receive. As a tourist, it is easy to make judgments but they are made solely from impressions gained rather than an informed knowledge of the true situation.

[PilbaraGirl]

Thank you Neurai for posting that information.

RobFellows, while I respect the beautiful images that you have posted - and they are a great collection - it is considered offensive to post them so publicly without permission. One of our respected elders has shown me this collection and is quite upset to see it displayed publicly and without information or authority. A number of other elders are also offended by this. Could we request that this collection be removed from public forums?

If, in the future, RobFellows or anyone else visits the area, it would be worth actually speaking with the local community about whether it is ok to take photos and, if so, to seek permission to display them. One of the things our elders are keen to see is that people have correct information on what they are seeing, so as not to cause further unnecessary misconceptions.

[JBW]

Thank you Neurai for posting that information.

RobFellows, while I respect the beautiful images that you have posted - and they are a great collection - it is considered offensive to post them so publicly without permission. One of our respected elders has shown me this collection and is quite upset to see it displayed publicly and without information or authority. A number of other elders are also offended by this. Could we request that this collection be removed from public forums?

If, in the future, RobFellows or anyone else visits the area, it would be worth actually speaking with the local community about whether it is ok to take photos and, if so, to seek permission to display them. One of the things our elders are keen to see is that people have correct information on what they are seeing, so as not to cause further unnecessary misconceptions.

One of many lessons I was taught when I lived on reserve in Canada was that only the owner of the story had the right to share it.