Photography

Our Photography Collection contains 48,000+ images including original and duplicate copies of historic and contemporary photographs, transparencies, negatives, born digital images and reference copies of images held by other organisations. Included in this collection are images of Koorie people, cultural heritage sites and significant cultural events.

The majority of the Photographic Collection has been donated to us.

Our Photography Collection includes the Lisa Bellear Photographic Archive.

Minjungbul woman Lisa Bellear (2/05/1961 – 6/07/2006) from Goernpil, Stradbroke Island in Queensland was a photographer, poet, academic, radio presenter and Indigenous rights activist, who was widely respected within the Indigenous community. Primarily based in Melbourne, Lisa documented over a quarter of a century of Indigenous community life, creating a collection of thousands of photographs.

Lisa sadly passed away in 2006. One of Lisa’s key wishes was for copies of photographs in her collection be returned to the Indigenous community. For this purpose, Lisa specifically named the Koorie Heritage Trust as recipient of her collection.