15 Mile is the name of an Indigenous community located in the outer-Darwin suburb of Palmerston (the community is also known and/or referred to as Gurdorka or Palmerston Indigenous Village). NWH first connected with 15 Mile through his participation in the Eye-See Workshop (April, 2013). The connection grew however, though his ensuing photographic documentation of the Indigenous Mens Programs facilitated by Robert E. Lewis (2013-2022), and consolidated especially through the friendship that emerged, through this process, with community Elder T. Burrenjuck.

The invitations NWH received to photograph members of the Burrenjuck family group, led him to understand something of the importance ascribed to kinship relations within these spaces. Pursuing this form of participatory portraiture as part of his practice-led postgraduate research at RMIT, NWH began working with other members of the community to explore this extended notion of ‘family portraiture.’ Overseen by community leader Phillip Goodman, this body of portraiture-based work formed the basis of a documentary slideshow and narrative titled Where Blood Comes From. With the support of the community and local service providers, NWH shared this documentary through a screening held in the community Hall during October, 2022.

TOP RIGHT: Elder T. Burrenjuck & Nicholas Walton-Healey, House 19, 2014. Photo by Robert Lewis

BOTTOMR RIGHT: Nicholas Walton-Healey & Phillip Goodman, House 22, 2021. Photo by Lorna Goodman