Photo Descriptions

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       Together, Apart – Matt Withers, Kirstie Petrou and Jeanette Tanghwa

 

1. An RSE worker is entering the departure terminal with the aim to go and help his family. His two sisters are excited for their brother and worried for him - Eliza
    

2. The airport is the same as the hospital and other places where lots of tears are shed, lots of people are happy and worried because of different things or achievements that pass through this place - Eliza
    

3. The game of chess is like life because lots of people do things and make decisions without thinking ahead. You should try and live your life as if you are playing a game of chess - Ceddrick
    

4. This lady is thinking about her children and wondering how she will feed them ... All of her sons have travelled but they don’t think about her or send her any money - Annika
    

5. A man travelled to help his wife and two children, and to help the woman pay school fees for her little sister. The woman is worrying because she has a lot of problems that she is thinking about - Eliza
    

6. My husband travelled to the RSE and this caused some issues at home between the two of us. The photo here shows that I’m worried because we had an argument on the phone and we haven’t solved the issue yet - Dorothy
    

7. Before, all of the people who lived along the river didn’t have running water in their houses, so they decided to travel. They decided to go and buy a tank and all of the pipes to bring water to the village - Lily
    

8. This is a house belonging to a man who travelled and didn’t drink alcohol, he thought about his house and his family, so when he came back he made a good house for them - Lino
    

9. People go and work to earn money to buy food, but they get the money and instead they think about drinking alcohol and getting together with different women and giving the money to these new partners, and they forget about the family they have at home - Andrina
    

10. There are lots of family members who travel and their aim is to build a house and look after their family. But when they go, they are overwhelmed by the amount of money they are earning, and they forget that their children and wives at home are waiting and suffering ... they waste [their money] on alcohol and some people even have extramarital affairs overseas - Shirley
     

11. My last-born brother has made life for our parents easy ... If the car breaks down, my brother sends money to get it fixed ... But if you asked the same question of the five of us who live in Vila, if you needed to pay 20,000 vatu for a car part here, for us it’s just not possible at all - Frank
     

12. This photo is about the children of a man who went overseas to work in the RSE and then absconded ... His wife works but it is really difficult for her to provide everything because her husband absconded and the money that he sends is just limited now. So the children have become victims and so has their education - Frank
     

13. When the boy’s father left to travel, he left the boy in the care of his grandmother ... his grandmother had to try really hard to make lunch for the boy and find a little bit of money for him to take to school - Lily
     

14. Her brother travelled and her father travelled too. She is trying really hard to achieve her dream but she can’t because a lot of the time she has too many commitments at home - Robinson
     

15. When her husband travelled, he sent money back and she didn’t think about just wasting it, but she used her money to work towards her aims and to achieve her dream … she saved the money over time and now the two of them have a house - Robinson
    
    Seeing the Whole Picture – Ema Moolchand
     

16.  

    • “The photo perfectly captures how I feel—silenced. We have no say in what we do, even when we raise concerns to improve our cleaning work, they aren’t heard.. We often don’t have proper equipment to do our jobs, especially when using harsh chemicals in housekeeping. I spoke to management directly because when we tell our supervisors, they ignore it but no action taken. It feels like slavery, and I’m afraid of what might happen. That’s what the photo shows, us with our mouths shut. We aren’t allowed to speak up, we just have to work—even in unfair conditions” - Malia
       

    • “My typical day as a meat worker feels like time is running for me. You have to be fast with the way your body moves, the way your hand moves. What I mean by this is for example, when they push the 130 kg beef to come into the boning room, there’s an alarm that beeps every after five seconds, then suddenly you see another beef coming in and like everything follows the alarm. So those of us who are cutting the beef -- boning and packing, we have to be fast and be following the alarm that is moving the beef into the boning room. I feel like I'm being under pressure as well at times.And sometimes, we have to be careful because it’s so easy to hurt yourself or for an accident happening to you” - Jeremiah
       

    • “The photo shows cows on a farm that I took on my way to work. As a former meat packer, I spent a year lifting heavy pallets of meat for packing. The image captures the intense heat of the sun, symbolising the grueling conditions we endure. Even working in a freezer, the labour is physically demanding, with constant pressure to meet daily orders, usually to process the equivalent of around 250-260 cows. There was no room to leave tasks unfinished; we had to meet the target each day” - Taufa
       

    • “This photo of scattered rubbish reflects the constant setbacks I face. Just like how this trash undoes my cleaning efforts, my hard work is often undone by exploitation, racism, and having to fill in for casual workers and backpackers. No matter how much progress I make, something always pulls me back, just like this unexpected mess that reappears after I have already cleaned” - Arisi
       

    • “So I chose this photo as I wrote ‘contract’ on the paper which appears to be broken a bit, not fully. So, what I want to show in this photo is the situation that we went through whilst coming here. The contract that we have signed in Solomon Islands before we came here, is a bit breached. Like pay rate for example, our overtime hours – are not paid correctly, we are getting normal rates even when we work overtime. When we first came, they paid us overtime rates for the first few weeks but things just changed along the way when we continue to work” - Jeremiah
       

    • “I wanted to highlight the flower. It shows how I feel right now. The flower is in midst of a dry field, looking somewhere else to find its nutrients and water amidst the dryness. Similarly, I feel isolated yet responsible, as I work far from home to support my family. I am the main provider, managing a budget solely for their well-being. I have four children, two in school and two very young. This image reflects my situation; amidst a challenging environment, I strive to find sustenance and support, much like a flower seeking water in a dry field. Without family support here and facing a favourable currency exchange, I send back double what I earn, feeling like the flower—waiting to bloom” - Wesser

17.  

    • "My emotions about my work are like this Ferris wheel, constantly moving, but at a slow pace. I feel neglected sometimes, maybe because of the kind of work I do, cleaning different areas like rooms, toilets, bathrooms, collecting rubbish, or handling urgent tasks. This Ferris wheel reminds me of how my work goes on, steadily, but without much recognition. I put in a lot of effort, but it leaves me with less time for friends and little appreciation. It feels like the difference in pay between the carers, my employer, and me reflects how my work isn’t valued as much. Most days, I'm cleaning toilets and doing the less glamorous tasks. That’s what I do, and that’s how I feel about myself sometimes. The Ferris wheel is so big, like a tall structure, and it represents my heart—I want to go beyond just cleaning. But everything moves so slowly, and people just don’t seem to notice or acknowledge us" - Marieta
       

    • “This broken pencil represents my unfair dismissal from XResort. Despite having certifications and skills, it didn’t matter when a new applicant from the Northern Territory arrived, bringing his own team. Without any warning or explanation, we were told, ‘Tomorrow is your last day.’ It was a verbal dismissal, nothing in writing. If we had known about the Ombudsman sooner, we could have acted, but we didn’t. Thankfully, our agent found us work at YHotel the very next day, but the contract didn’t protect us. We were only paid for the days we worked, with no compensation for the remaining contract term” - Arisi
       

    • "I took this cloud photo on a day when I was feeling really low. I was heading to Broome to pick up some staff, and when I saw the cloud with the light trying to break through, it felt like it represented my situation. The cloud is like our management, always overshadowing us, blocking us from opportunities. Just like the light struggling to shine through the cloud, we have potential we want to reach, but management keeps us in the dark, hiding things from us. They always tell us, 'You are here to work for us,' but in our minds, we’re thinking, 'We paid for that visa, it’s ours, you are just the sponsor.' But we cannot say that. If we do, it feels like the manager will send us home, or find someone to write a bad letter about us, and we will be dismissed just like that” - Moe
       

    • “This picture is so meaningful because this is what we face on the ground. I have to drive to work because I have the drivers’ license—so it means you take people to work. It can be easy for them [agent] to make us do it, but it’s so challenging because I have to wake up early and prepare my things before I leave home. I also have to sacrifice a lot – I cannot even wake up 2 mins late on a day., I have to wake up early in the morning at 4 o’clock. Then 5 o’clock sharp I have to start picking up workers from their households and drop them to work, then come back again – pick other workers and drop them to work. So there’s six households. I have one house where there’s only two people staying there, so I try to just fit them in the car to the next household where there are only 3 people inside, so I can start my own shift at 6” - Enele
       

    • “That picture is me and my parents. It's only four of us.It's like I said before we don't have much option.. When we have the bad feelings, or we feel they try to breach our rights, when we talk to them and they keep saying, because of our visa or whatever. And when we go home after work, or when we talk to our family, it feels like all tiredness is gone. We have much more strength to work when we talk to our family. That's what I do every day. When I feel tired or stressed from work, I go home, I talk to my family. I feel like everything is gone.The same for all my coworkers here, they told me the same, It's all the same thing. So yeah, that’s why I drew it, a photo of my family to symbolise what is keeping me going despite I feel exploited” - Mafu
       

    • “I took this picture to show how alone I feel here. Every day, I sit at this table to eat my dinner and ask myself why I am here, reminding myself of the sacrifices I have made. I face so many challenges: being mistreated, dealing with unfair workloads. At the end of the day, I sit at this table, and even though I am always cheerful, smiling, and full of laughter, no one sees what lies behind those smiles. As a cleaner, you hide so much behind a smile. When the workday ends, I come back to an empty room, no children, no family. It is just me and the four walls, alone. That teddy bear sitting across from me represents the loneliness I carry. No one sees the isolation I feel" – Nunia

18.  

    • This photo shows the hands of one of our housemen, a colleague of mine. It shows the effects of using chemicals for cleaning, including those meant for air freshening. Some of these chemicals are mislabelled, not intended for the tasks we're using them for, like chemicals to clean glass. Even when gloves are provided, they don’t fit properly, leaving our hands exposed. The picture shows the challenges my friend had to face as his hands were sore and it was difficult for him to touch anything but needed to continue to work as he needs his hands to perform the job” – Arisi
       

    • “The umbrella symbolises the structure of the workplace where I work. I chose it because—if one part is missing, the umbrella can’t open or function properly. Something breaks in the structure. If even one piece is gone, the whole umbrella becomes unusable. In contrast, where I work, there is no structure like that. Everything is micro-managed.We, the line staff who do the work, don’t have a say. When we want to share our knowledge to make things better and easier for everyone, we can’t. Everything must come from management, which makes our jobs so much harder. It’s like we’re part of an umbrella that management doesn’t let open" – Malia
       

    • "This picture shows the sign of the 'no alcohol' rule at our accommodation which tells us that we do not have basic rights as tenants. We should have the freedom to do what we want in our own house since we're paying for it. Why can’t we drink alcohol in our own home? It's as if our employer thinks Pacific Islanders will damage property when they drink. That’s not fair; they don’t know our background. I’m upset that after a night out, they (agent) told us to sleep at a motel instead of at home, wasting our money. It feels like we're being unfairly judged. If we break anything, we should pay for it for sure, but this restriction on alcohol is just another breach of our rights, so I took this picture to show how what it’s like seeing this sign on the wall everyday” – Enele
       

    • “As you can see, it's early in the morning. That's around 4.20 AM. As a meatworker Ihave to wake up very early and drop my colleagues to the abattoirs. I do not get paid to do the driving. We leave very early, coming back very late as I need to drop them back to the accommodation. Being a meat worker is tough I should say. I think that's what the picture speaks for those who need to do the driving on top of being a meat worker. I start work at 5AM. I work maximum 12 hours but sometimes I do overtime. Usually I would return home at6 o'clock but when we're behind schedule, most time I am home around 8 pm after dropping my colleagues” – Wesser
       

    • "That marsh represents my potential to go far beyond the standard of work expected of me. But the mindset and hearts of my superiors and co-workers (carers) are like the hard, cracked surface of this marsh—when they should be soft and open. We should be working together, discussing what’s right and wrong, what needs to be done, and how we should treat each other. But it’s difficult to have those conversations because I feel unrecognized, like I’m at the bottom of the list. I feel marginalized—isolated from daily meetings, questioning my worth, and feeling voiceless under the control of my boss. The discrimination against Fijians and Samoans makes me feel even more excluded." – Marieta
       

    • “The drums and pallets are people who are working together but we have different ranks you know. Like some are much higher and some are lower. And so that’s what I feel at work... It’s just like that and I consider myself and the rest of my brothers that we just started work with, I compare us as the drums, we are just down there. That’s one thing I complain to our agent because it’s unfair -- so we (Pacific Islanders) were there for one month, and this Filippino guy came, he does the same job with us but was given the knife with the ‘blue helmet’- which means likes us he is still learning from this job we are doing but is getting paid more” – Enele
       

19.  

    • “As you can see in the photo, I’m working the night shift in complete darkness—there’s no light. It feels like I’m doing the job blind, yet management expects everything to be neat by morning. The challenge is real. I have to rely on the torchlight from my phone to get the job done. The only light you see in this photo is coming from my phone. I’ve reported this issue to management multiple times, but there’s been no response, even after a year and a half. One night, a colleague of mine, a woman doing the night audit, had to pass by the pool bar to get a receipt while I was working alone with just my phone light. She heard the noise of me shifting the bedding and thought it was a ghost! She was so scared that she ran back to the office, refusing to take the shift again. It was that dark and terrifying for her, even though I called out to her, telling her it was just me.” – Arisi
       

    • "If you can see those two phones, they’re both iPhones, they’re both purple but there’s different things, in terms of the numbers of the brand/model, one is just iPhone 8 and the other is iPhone 14. So, yeah, what I’m trying to say about those challenges at work here is we come from the Pacific Island, we are on the 403 visa and for those who came from other different countries they have different types of visas.. When we came here, we do the same job with them, but they get paid higher. They get paid higher than us because of the visa” – Mafu
       

    • "What the picture is showing is – it’s the sea – we are just looking at the surface. Right now, as a meat worker, the company is not allowing me to dive into sea. So basically, like I’m still at the surface right now. What the sea holds inside is much wealthier you know! The richness in the sea like the bonuses and allowances I am entitled! They [company] just want me to be on the surface. That’s the reason why I took this picture” – Wesser
       

    • Mafu as a tree – standing resilient to challenges but trapped due to visa limits.
       

20. ​

    • “This photo represents the unity and support we have for each other as PALM workers. Every day, we face overwhelming workloads, but we always help each other out. If one of us is running late, we step in to ensure the work gets done because we have each other's backs. Being far from home, we are the only family we have here. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the casual workers, who are often lighter-skinned and come from places like Argentina or South America. They tend to stick together, speak in their own language, and do not bond with us like we do among ourselves. But for us PALM workers, we make sure to smile at the end of the day, lifting each other up despite the exhaustion" – Malia
       

    • “This picture is the view from my house. Every morning I wake up to go to work, I see that light and every time I come back from work I see the same light. It’s like telling me that my working life here is basically I leave my house it’s the morning, and when I come back, it’s night and I’m working six days every week. I feel like the day is not enough. Because when you go back home, you have to rush when you do everything. We need to get our food ready for the next day and also have to get some sleep for work. Then when you wake up, you have to go to work again. You just cannot do anything to enjoy the working days” – Mafu
       

    • “This picture was taken in Derby, and it is the historic Baobab Prison Tree. The tree symbolises how slavery existed here in Derby. When I see the opening in the tree, that’s how I feel, like I’m locked inside. The tree represents the facility where I work, and the barrier around it represents how I’m trapped. The light outside the tree is always there, representing the future I see for myself here in Australia, but inside, there’s darkness. That darkness reflects the fear and constant bullying I experience from my manager. I feel like I’m stuck inside, only seeing the light outside but unable to reach it. The tree has historical significance because Aboriginal people were treated like slaves in Australia. When I see it, I feel like I am in that same situation, locked inside, just like I feel in my work environment" – Moe
       

    • "I chose this photo to show how my rights are violated at work. Even when I give my best, 100% every day, it always comes down to racism. In the picture, you see rubbish left outside the villa, this represents the extra workload dumped on us. We, the Pacific Island workers, are left to clean up after the casual workers (backpackers) who only work a few hours and leave once the rooms are released at 2 or 3 p.m. The racial discrimination is clear—it is not just about the work, it is about skin colour, I feel. Casual workers, who are mostly lighter-skinned, are treated differently than us Fijians and Pacific Islanders. The management know we Pacific Island workers will always say ‘yes’ and never refuse the work. The green figure in the picture represents the casual workers, tossing their unfinished duties onto us, symbolised by the trash on the ground. It feels like they throw all the dirty work on us without a second thought, while they clock out and leave" – Nunia
       

    • "This is my house in PNG where all my family lives, and during tough times, I always think about it. My family and this home are what keep me going. Whenever things get overwhelming, I remind myself why I'm here—working to improve our life and situation. It's the thought of providing for my family and securing a better future for us that drives me every day” – Wesser
      
      Seasonal – Kaya Barry
       

21. Dani, Timor-Leste
    Avondale, 2023
     

22. Jeffrey, Solomon Islands
    Childers, 2024
     

23. Megedio, Papua New Guinea
    Cassowary Coast, 2023
     

24. Bona, Papua New Guinea
    Mundubbera, 2023
     

25. Jude and Miriam, Solomon Islands

      Lakeland, Far North Queensland, 2024

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26. Boibe, Kiribati

      Bundaberg, 2023

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27. Dani, Timor-Leste
     Avondale, 2023

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28. Ilaisaane, Tonga

      Bundaberg, 2023

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29. Edward, Samoa

      North Queensland, 2023

 

30. Josephs and Maka, Tonga

      Gayndah, 2025

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31. Melino, Tonga

      Gin Gin, 2024

 

32. Nunes, Timor-Leste

      Avondale, 2023

      Nunes, also known as KBI’IT Photography, captures his co-workers and life in Australia using professional 

      photographic equipment. Find him on facebook at: “Kbi’it BO’OT TEBES”

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33. Nunes, Timor-Leste

      Avondale, 2023

 

34. Nunes, Timor-Leste

      Avondale, 2023

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35. Dani, Timor-Leste

      Avondale, 2023

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