Exploring the colours of Melbourne

By SARAH MAREE PRICE

“I’ve always felt like I’ve always had to prove who I am,” says  Hollie Johnson, a Melbourne-based student and photographer whose work aims to send a message about the cultural dynamics of her home city.

Johnson decided to capture an array of "everyday people" from mixed ethnicities, choosing the traditional dress that best represents who they are.

Johnson says the project encompasses her passion for cultural diversity, while at the same time infusing her experience of identifying herself in a family of various backgrounds.

“My Mum is Indian-indigenous Australian, and my Dad is British-white Australian.

“One of the girls I photographed is Pakistani-indigenous Australian, and she either gets told she looks like ‘one and not the other’ or ‘none at all’ … she says that defining who she is goes beyond her mixed ethnicity,” Johnson said.

Standing on her balcony at RMIT, she gazes over the city skyline and says she couldn’t be happier living in such a culturally dynamic place.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to live here and be doing the thing I love,” she says.

Johnson hopes her project is good enough to go on display at the end of the year. Although the budding photographer hasn’t had her work published yet, she explains while the "photography industry is hard to get into", she’s aiming for the sky.

Johnson hopes to make the culture diversity project a year-long endeavour and receive sponsorship for the work to be published.  

"Small achievements make way for big accomplishment," she says, and photography has always been her passion ever since childhood.

“I’ve dreamed of being a professional full-time photographer all my life.

“When I was 12 at my school camp at Wilson’s Promontory, I had a dodgy film camera and I took a photo of some birds and some mountains … and that’s where I began my journey,” she says.

Born and raised in rural Victoria, Johnson has already gained professional work as a photographer for alternative clothing brands such as Such a Tees and Shio, and worked as a model in  the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival.  

When asked which she prefers, Johnson says photography is her thing "hands down".

[gallery type="slideshow" ids="5981,5985,5984,5979,5982"]

“I prefer being behind the camera than in front … I feel like I get more respect knowing what’s going on behind the camera and what it takes to make a good shot.

“That’s what I want to incorporate in my work, because I don’t want posing or models for this project but rather everyday people with a message to send the world,” she said.

Pausing to sip on her coffee, she smiles as she looks down at her print-outs of photographs so far, then explains how getting to where she is now wasn’t all smooth sailing.  

Taking three years to get into RMIT after high school and becoming the first of her siblings to move to the city, Johnson says her greatest aspiration is to inspire other young indigenous Australians.

“I still persevered when things were kinda taking a while to pan out," she says.

“Those were the biggest achievements for me even if quite small and they motivate me every day,” she said.

And for the future?  Aspiring to get her project exhibited by the end of the year, Johnson says she wants to follow her passion no matter where life takes her.

“I want the usual…graduate, travel, come back home, buy a house with a studio and bar/café…you know, living the cool Melbourne life,” she says.

Almost immediately she bursts out laughing.

Then slowly,  and as if embarrassed by her frank admission, she says quite humbly: “A girl can dream, right?"

*All pictures used with permission