Linda and Binni by Wiradjuri/Kamileroi artist Michael Riley is from the series Michael Riley Portraits 1984 to 1990. It is a black and white photograph taken in 1984 and printed in 2013. An inkjet print on paper, it measures 43.1 centimetres high and 54 centimetres wide.
Linda is educator, activist and politician Linda Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, with her young son Binni. It is an intimate head and shoulders portrait of a young mother holding her baby against her body. Binni nestles into his mother’s left shoulder as she faces forward. Binni’s back is to us as Linda supports his neck and head with her slender left hand.

Gentle diffused light washes over the portrait from her left casting the right-hand side of Linda’s head and face into deep shadow. The contrast of light and shade emphasizes the physical connection between mother and baby.

Linda has a downward tilt to her head. She has short, slightly wavy, thick dark hair with a right-hand part. She has fine dark eyebrows over downcast eyes with shadowed lids and long lashes. She has faint lines either side of her nose and her lips are slightly upturned with a hint of a smile.

Linda’s chin rests against Binni’s left shoulder and his dimpled bent left elbow peaks beneath her chin. Linda’s right shoulder fades into the dark background.
There is a sense of stillness and calm.

Audio description script written and vocied by Krysia Kitch