When Melissa Mills sees the rolling sandstone cliffs of Carnarvon Gorge on the horizon, she feels its nourishing energy building in her body and soul.
"I'm blessed and lucky enough to call this place home," Ms Mills said.
The central Queensland photographer is connected to the gorge through her grandmother's lineage, Ghungulu Garingbal, and her grandafather's, Bidjara.
The traditional owners of Carnarvon Gorge, 700 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, are the Garingbal and Bidjara peoples, but Ms Mills said Aboriginal mobs had used it for business and ceremonies for thousands of years.
"It is one of the largest [Aboriginal] cemeteries anywhere within the world of incredible stature, just the enormity of the space, it's really hard to fathom just how much is contained within," she said.
'A matriarchal space'
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Mills photographed women at the gorge to help them better understand their identity.
She learned the women's strongest links and stories came from their connection to their children.
After years of thought and conversations with elders, her project Imprints was born – it aims to capture the bond between mothers and their children.
"Stories that have been told and passed down to me through my elders and my uncles and aunts – we've always been told that [Carnarvon Gorge] has a strong female story that surrounds it," Ms Mills said.
"It's a very matriarchal space."
In March, Ms Mills invited two non-Indigenous mums and their children to share stories and capture their distinctive bonds.
A chance to hug your kids
Rockhampton mum Lou-Anne Fleming and her daughter Ashleigh, 17, have independent personalities, but the way they interact at the photo shoot shows an undeniable connection.
"She has an older brother and the three of us have [a] really strong bond," Ms Fleming said.
"We have our days, don't get me wrong, but on the whole, we get along."
Ms Fleming said being photographed with Ashleigh was out of their comfort zones, but she welcomed any opportunity to spend time together.
"It's natural to hug your child but to actually have to pose and lean into each other, it's like, 'Oh she's going to hate me for this'. But she was really good," Ms Fleming said.
For both, learning more cultural awareness, hearing the history and connecting with Ms Mills was extraordinary.
"It's sacred – what a privilege, what an honour to be asked to do it," Ms Fleming said.
"I've had a heart condition and Ashleigh and I, we've been there one-on-one together, but I'm hoping with this, it'll bring back some memories."
A nice thing to do with mum
As part of the experience, Ms Mills asked the mums to prepare letters to share with their children on country.
"[Mum] tells me everything that's in the letter every day, [but] it was really sweet," Ashleigh said.
"She's like, 'Now I have it in cemented form', but I didn't need it, I know.
"She's like, 'What if one day when I pass?' and I said, 'I'll know.'"
Ashleigh said the experience gave her a new perspective on nature, history, culture and her relationship with her mum.
"This has really made us closer, I'm definitely not going to forget this ever," she said.
"I love her [Mum] and respect her so much, she doesn't care what I do, who I am – as long as I'm happy and she's told me that since I was kid."
A 'special' welcome to country
Nyree Johnson and her daughters Madison, 16, and Sara, 9, spend time in nature together through Scouts – but Ms Johnson said hiking with Ms Mills on traditional land was a unique privilege.
"To be welcomed here by someone from this country, made it quite special," Ms Johnson said.
"It's very much about being able to disconnect from the world, the work, the technology, the business, and remember what's actually important in life."
Ms Johnson said she was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was for both daughters to wake up about 4am on photo-shoot day.
"I've been telling the girls how important this is to experience or have this opportunity, so we make the most of it," she said.
"As much as teenagers, in particular, like to be a rebel without a cause sometimes, I think when something is really important deep down, they know it."
An 'invisible' bond
Ms Mills said she hoped each mother and daughter felt fulfilled by the experience and remembered it fondly.
"It's more about them being in the spaces and the places that they are at, and the moments when the cameras are down and we're sharing stories," she said.
The photographer likened the bond she aimed to capture to an invisible umbilical cord.
"In the gestation period of carrying bub, the things that we actually put into our body continue to feed and nourish them," Ms Mills said.
"Even though that cord is cut in that moment, clamped, that cord is always an invisible cord that will always connect that child back to that mother.
"Even if the baby is not carried with you, there's always a DNA, there's always an imprint that is left between a parent and a child."
