Tony Albert

Warakurna Superheroes is a photographic series developed by Tony Albert in close collaboration with artists and children from the remote Aboriginal community of Warakurna. Drawing on the visual language of popular culture, the participants create their own superhero personas—designing handmade props and costumes and posing proudly within the expansive desert landscape of their home. 

Warakurna superheroes #9 was created by Albert in collaboration with photographic artist David C Collins, and Warakurna children Renisha Ward-Yates and Brittany Malbunka Reid.

Albert uses the familiar imagery of superheroes and science‑fiction heroes to explore ideas of strength, resilience and cultural pride. Here, heroism is redefined: not as fantasy, but as care for family, respect for Elders, and the ongoing responsibility of maintaining culture and community.

Playful, bold and deeply collaborative, the series challenges narrow representations of Aboriginal life while foregrounding joy, agency and self‑determination. Warakurna Superheroes invites viewers to consider how everyday acts of cultural continuity can be powerful forms of heroism.

Warakurna superheroes #9, archival pigment print on paper, 100cm x 150cm, 2017 ©Tony Albert, David C Collins, Renisha Ward-Yates and Brittany Malbunka Reid.