From illustration to evidence: the potential of photographs for Indigenous native title claims in Australia (2017-2022)

This project aims to evaluate the potential of historical photographs as evidence in native title claims to assist understanding of cultural continuities and changes in Aboriginal connections with place. Its significance is founded on developing an innovative methodology to document the evidentiary values of large photographic collections of Aboriginal people in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. The study will seek to identify the photographed subjects and the locations and circumstances of their images being recorded. The significance of the photographic archive for contemporary Aboriginal people will be addressed, drawing on literature in photographic theory, anthropology and Indigenous studies.