“What appears foreign to the eye becomes, through the felt sense, unexpectedly familiar and joyful.”

— Harriet Pratten

Artist Statement

AKIN explores the quiet architectures of kinship — the ties of ancestry, proximity and likeness that connect us across geography, language and belief.

I’m drawn to places far from my own world, seeking to understand other ways of being and belonging. In those moments, without agenda, I feel most alive: attentive, connected and aware of the stories unfolding around me. My practice centres on observing the subtle, often invisible frameworks of human connection that shape how we belong, and making them visible through imagery.

Photographed in Morocco, Indonesia and Mongolia, the series reflects on how human identity is inscribed in place and ritual, in the marks we carve, the stories we carry and the gestures we repeat. Through portraiture, landscape and detail, these images trace a continuum between ancient symbology and contemporary presence.

Underpinning the work is an ongoing meditation on propinquity: how proximity fosters empathy and how likeness recalls our shared origins. AKIN asks what it means to belong, not by magnifying difference, but by dwelling on resemblance.

Artist Bio

Harriet Pratten is a Sydney-based photographer and creative director working internationally, whose work explores identity, belonging and the intersections of culture and place.

Her practice grew from more than a decade documenting communities across southern and eastern Africa, where she co-founded Ginkgo Agency and produced award-winning documentary projects including 21 Icons and Beautiful News. She co-authored 21 Icons: Portrait of a Nation and co-produced the National Geographic documentary Europe’s Last Leopard — each celebrating resilience and humanity through story.

Harriet currently works on assignment for ActionAid Australia in Vanuatu, serves on the board of Poetry in Action, and is Director of Community at Arts-Matter. She continues to explore how kinship manifests in myriad ways around the world.