A bit of Background...

I came to Australia in 1975 and, after travelling across the country and a brief stay in Sydney, moved to the Northern Territory. I worked in Aboriginal Education as a teacher, Adult Educator and Teacher Linguist (with Aboriginal languages) all over the Territory, from the Red Centre to the Top End, in eight Aboriginal communities and three urban centres as well. I have been very priviliged to experience intimately traditional Aboriginal culture and ceremonies, and was allowed to take thousands of photographs and many hours of video. Please note that, although I could photograph "restricted" rituals (only allowed to be viewed by initiated men) as well, none of the photos and videos on this site are of a restricted nature; that would have been a terrible breach of trust. All images were taken with full permission of the participants.

In 2001 I moved to Far North Queensland and have been working in Information Technology at Djarragun College, a school for indigenous students (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) in Gordonvale, near Cairns ever since. This has enabled me to experience and record the culture of the Torres Strait Islands as well.

We hope you enjoy these images of the Real Australia....

Ludo Kuipers
lkuipers@ozoutback.com.au