Helming from Whadjuk Noongar Country in greater Perth, WA, Cole Baxter is a Noongar man, from the Farmer family, on a mission to amplify culture and community. The multitalented artist has found his niche in the Australian photography industry, specialising in Indigenous portraiture. He is an experienced singer. Recently, he played a pivotal photographic role in the multi-media storytelling project Ngaluk Waangkiny, which told the stories of ten elders from Boorloo (Perth) via a book, podcast and short documentary.

He is currently involved in the NRW photo exhibition on Wadjemup and several other elders’ shoots championing this year’s NAIDOC theme. Articulate and thoughtful, Cole continues to push for meaningful conversations both in and outside of his craft. Browse his Instagram here.

A lot of the work that I do is really edified not only by the Noongar community but specifically elders, who I do a lot of work with. At the moment, with this year’s theme, I’ve been lucky to do a lot of shoots, championing our elders with different councils around town and it’s really special to see folks from those generations a couple above me who have lived very storied lives, where the policies and general culture, nation-wide —not just on Noongar Boodja, but things that affect other elders and Blackfellas all around Australia— have been really varied and significantly more negative than they are now.

So, to really champion their voices; raise their positive visibility around their platform, something that really feels up my cup and edifies the photos that I take, the manner in which I take them and how I do my best to have the right folks seeing them in the right manner.

As far as photography goes, I've really been blessed. I've been taking photos with professional equipment for about nine years now. Starting off with entry level DSLRs that I didn't even own...I think I got my first one as a gift in 2015.

I've been shooting full-time professionally for about three years now, in the lead up to that my work was still centred around Aboriginal people here that live on Noongar country.

I worked at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University as an academic student engagement officer. And at that time, around 2020, lots of protests and rallies were happening. The BLM Movement was really monolithic. I was going to these events taking photos and people's eyes were really opening up, they were seeing my images going “wow”. They just really happened to coincide with what people were wanting to see at the time. So, I had a surplus of opportunities to take photos that were meaningful to me and the community around me. A lot of the work that I do really mirrors what's going on around the country. So other folks see my work and it's meaningful to them even though they are on different countries here in Australia.

I am just so lucky that I get to do something that is creatively fulfilling as well as something that interests me, you know, beyond what drives me. I’m never not without variety of meaningful work when I’m working with Noongars and working with elders.

To think about what has amplified my Blak voice, my Noongar voice, my voice as a Blackfella in this creative, creating space, there’s probably a never-ending list. I’m so fortunate that those things that have amplified my own voice are transferrable to many other things in my life.

There’s been a lot of positive reinforcement within the community that I work - from the Blackfellas that live on Noongar country. Many see what I’m doing in the space and let me know I’m doing the right thing. To keep it up. And it’s not just through those words, but also by virtue of acceptance, and through people seeking me out to create work – the kind of work that if they didn’t seek me out, I’d be seeking them out to ask permission to create anyway.

I’m proud of myself and I’m motivated to be as proud of my actions as possible, and for that to be a real honest thing. If I ever do things that aren’t in accordance with what is bettering folks around me, my ears are wide open. I’m lucky to be able to navigate these spaces in a professional and courteous way. 

My mum has been a practicing lawyer on Noongar country for close to two decades now. She’s on a plethora of boards in WA. She really personifies Blak excellence, achievement, working for our mob, doing the best she can and setting the bar super high. Even when I don’t achieve those same levels, I’m trying to and achieving along the way anyway.

My pop was a very successful football player here in WA. He started the Polly Farmer Foundation in the mid 90s and its still going strong today. His presence and impact is still so significant that it reminds me how to carry myself as a Noongar person, and to do that legacy proud.

If you are in a space and experiencing success to any sort of degree maybe question how that space was designed? Was it designed for you? Was it designed by people that look like you and had similar upbringings and opportunities to you?

If the answer is yes, then ask yourself is this space in that same breath of air, perhaps, disfavouring certain folks by not being designed specifically for them. And I think that's the case for a lot of spaces on this continent, many of which are creative ones that maybe to an extent fetishize Aboriginal voices, but aren't necessarily designed for those same voices to flourish.

Although we've been here for a long time, the systems and industries of these creative spaces were designed for the most part by non-Indigenous people and for non-Indigenous people. So, even though now a lot of creative spaces really do champion Blak voices, just question, “oh, is this thing designed for me? Is it designed for Blackfellas? How easy is it for folks to navigate this space?”

If you are someone who is a beneficiary of privilege, before you were even born just because of the way you look, and the way that you fit into certain spaces, just try and challenge that. Consider stereotypical prejudices that you might not think you hold but probably experience having at certain times in life. Meaningfully championing and bolstering Blak voices can occur in a non-tokenistic way, which I think is the way that it needs to be done if it's going to catch on and be properly absorbed.

NAIDOC Week runs from 2-9 of July, with events taking place all across the nation. For a full guide, resources and tickets, visit the official website.