Portrait of 'sistagirl' out and proud
December 1, 2009
Bindi Cole's Tiwi Islands photograph wins Deadly Art Award. Liza Power reports.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/portrait-of-sistagirl-out-and-proud/2009/11/30/1259429335112.html (http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/portrait-of-sistagirl-out-and-proud/2009/11/30/1259429335112.html)
JUST after sunset, at the tail end of a long day of shooting, Bindi Cole set down her camera gear and picked up her trustworthy digital for a couple of final frames. Her subject, a transgender ''sistagirl'' from the Tiwi Islands, Ajay, struck a pose, her rouged cheeks and glossy pout glinting in the final embers of dusk.
On Friday, Cole's twilight portrait won the prestigious $25,000 Deadly Art Award, part of the 2009 Victorian Indigenous Art Awards. And while the young, Melbourne-based photographer is excited about the prize, it's the story behind the photograph that she hopes will garner acclaim.