Migrant Photo Album:
A living archive of memory and migration, gathering photographs from childhood and family albums – snapshots of larger stories shared by our community.
“Me and my younger sister Jasmine during our early years after migrating to Australia, learning how to fit into Australian suburbia in a small coastal town in NSW, where we were two of only a handful of brown kids at our entire school.”
— Pauline Morrissey
“Growing up in Kuwait – me, my brother, my mum and dad.”
— Dilushi Prasanna
“My parents in the empty backyard of their new home in Hoppers Crossing.”
— Monica Keeler
“My grandparents, Ruth and Fox, sitting in a photo studio to have their photos taken. Zambia, 1970s.”
— Chichi Makwaza
“Lunch with the family, Northern Thai style.”
— Angela Mckay
“Pre-school in Zhongshan, China – I remember having congee for breakfast and group afternoon naps on tabletops.”
— Caitlin Williams
“My little sister and I at the front of our small unit block in Cabramatta, in South Western Sydney, where we lived in a unit shared with three other families.”
— Dalin Alejandrino
“I was one year old in this photo, taken at the house I live in now. I think it was my cousin’s birthday – hence the Disney princess hat.”
— Tyron Tran
“With my Lola (paternal grandma) – she used to bribe me to go to church with her on Sundays by buying me cute dresses like this one.”
— Marjorie Tenchavez
“A photo of my mum and I in front of the Harbour Bridge. Even though we lived quite far from the CBD, my family and I would go into the city often.”
— Abigail Eng
“This is a photo of me at 2 years old, in my parents’ first home in Melbourne – a share house with friends in Northcote.”
— Connie Cao
“This is a photo of me and my beloved late mum.”
— Jem Juthamat
“My mum and her family arriving in Portugal. My mum is the little girl holding the doll and looking directly at the camera.”
— Tyron Tran
“My brothers and I at Bonnyrigg Khmer Buddhist Temple after our late father passed away.”
— Dalin Alejandrino
“My father captures my brother and me wearing traditional Sinhalese dresses in our Kuwait home before attending the Vesak festival. We would participate every year by singing Buddhist prayers and national songs.”
— Dilushi Prasanna
“My mum (middle, in the red jacket) with her family shortly after arriving in Melbourne.”
— Tyron Tran
“This is a photo of my Mum and Dad in Sri Lanka.”
— Satara Uthayakumaran
“This is a photo of me as a toddler, dressed in traditional Thai clothing.”
— Jem Juthamat
“Mum and her ‘Farang Dong’ (pickled white person, aka Eurasian) kids.”
— Angela Mckay
“With my Lolo (paternal grandpa), teaching me how to cha-cha in his home in San Juan, Metro Manila. I got my love of dancing from him.”
— Marjorie Tenchavez
“A photo of me in kindy.”
— Dalin Alejandrino
“Motherhood is sacrifice. To let go of all you know, all you love, to make way for uncertainty. For your children, and theirs. With the hope they will return, often. Time doesn’t stop. Years. Decades. They both understood. Quietly. Painfully. Knowingly. This is a mother’s love.”
— Fides-Mae Santos
“One of the last photos of me with my family before leaving the Philippines in 1984.”
— Marie de Vera
“The two of us as children, riding our bikes together in the cul-de-sac outside our family home in south-west Sydney. To this day, that family home still stands.”
— Lauren and Kass Hernandez
“Me hugging my brother on our dining table back in Singapore.”
— Ashley Misso
“This is a photo of my family from when we first moved to Australia in 2003. My dad, my brothers and I are baking cut-out cookies while my mum is taking the picture. I'm the one kneeling on the counter. We didn't have an oven in the Philippines, so my earliest experience of baking was in the kitchen of our tiny two-bedroom unit on a cold Melbourne day. I've been baking ever since!”
— Joyce Protacio
“My siblings and I rollerblading through my parents’ Chinese restaurant in regional NSW.”
— Steffie Yee
“Pool parties at home in Delhi.”
— Nysa Rohatgi
“Me and my sister at Sea World with our Lola (grandma) and Lolo (grandpa) while they were visiting Australia from the Philippines.”
— Pauline Morrissey
“Mum, Dad, my older brother and I at our home in Hyderabad, India.”
— Carlin Stephenson
“In my childhood home in Hong Kong, showing eldest daughter energy since 2003.”
— Natalie Kwan
“My third birthday, 2005.”
— Nysa Rohatgi
“The day of my last uni exam during my bachelor's degree. Filled with hopes and dreams of what the future held.”
— Queen Oppong
“A photo of me in my family home with my cat.”
— Kaede James Takamoto
“My parents spent their early years of migration in regional Victoria. Pictured is a family photo in Mildura, where we were part of a small Bengali community in regional Victoria.”
— Nafi Rahman