George Fetting’s large photographic portrait of writer and activist Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal Tribe was taken in 1992 and printed in 2009. It is 110 centimetres high by 88.2 centimetres wide in a modest fine wooden frame.

This large photograph is a close-up of Oodgeroo’s face resting in her left hand, which frames the lower part of her face. Chin resting on thumb and fingers pointing up towards her eyes and placed along her cheek bone. Her face is slightly to the right of centre. Soft light illuminates the right side of her face with the extreme left of her forehead, nose, and hand cast into shadow. The sepia tones of her skin stand out against a black background.

Oodgeroo’s face is cropped across her high wrinkled forehead, and short silvered hair is glimpsed on either side. Between her brows is a single deep vertical furrow. She has large dark eyes with bags beneath them. She gazes to her left at the camera. Her nose is straight and deep creases run from each side of her nose to her closed lips and then continue downward to the edge of her face. A faint line shows the edges of a dark shirt that disappears into the background.

The elements of a slightly raised left eyebrow, her liquid eyes, the pores of her skin and the whirls and cracks of her fingerprints create a detailed textural portrait of this Quandamooka woman.

Audio description script written by Krysia Kitch and voiced by Kate Matthews