Tarntipi is an extended project and collaboration arising from the photographer’s commitment to documenting the vision of Tiwi Elder Teddy (Edward) Portaminni (Junior). Centring on Teddy’s Ancestorial Country (Tarntipi, on Bathurst Island), the photographs trace the development of a Tiwi-led business (devised for the purpose of facilitating cultural education), and the connection Walton-Healey subsequently came to share with Teddy and his family.

The depth of this connection was celebrated with a photographic exhibition at Magnet Galleries Melbourne in November 2024. Extending to include a maquette of a co-authored publication, and a workshop conceived with the intention of imparting strategies for cross-cultural communication, this exhibition marked the most recent outcome of a collaboration extending back to 2015. In detailing the photographer’s transformative experience of Country, and the enduring nature of the ties that Teddy and his family share with their lands, the exhibition-event marked a significant milestone in a shared journey leading Teddy and his wife Teresia to Melbourne for the occasion.