The 'Be Seen' project, a photographic archive by Anna Hay and Sophie Willison, explores how LGBTQIA+ lives are shaped through memory, identity and relationship to place. Commissioned by North Sydney council as part of Pride Month 2026, the exhibition runs from 15–30 June at In Transit gallery, North Sydney, NSW.
Portraits and Stories
Soph Li Rong Tan at Berry Island Reserve: 'Berry Island is really important to me for two reasons. One is that my grandfather would come and do the bushwalk or play in the playground or hang off trees. And the second is now that I've come back to Australia [from Singapore] as an adult and I've kind of stepped into my queerness, I was able to bring my partner here on our first anniversary and we had a little picnic.'
Steven Hankey and Peter Bryant at the Pickled Possum in Neutral Bay: Steven and Peter are two friends who met in the 1990s at Helix, a gay social night held weekly at the Pickled Possum bar. 'I think it was actually officially called Helix North Shore Social Group. It was designed for North Shore people who didn't cross the bridge as often and didn't spend as much time on Oxford Street,' said Steven.
Claire at home in North Sydney: 'We are in my apartment in North Sydney, which I love. I describe it as my queer sanctuary. A really good memory from living in this area was in 2023, which was when WorldPride was in Sydney. The march over the Harbour Bridge started in North Sydney; having that event start [here] … and walking over the bridge … I'd never done that kind of walk before, so that was amazing.'
Nata at Berrys Bay Lookout: 'Coming to Australia as a refugee is not an easy journey … Especially being queer in immigration detention. North Sydney area is a real home for me. Like, it's not just about the beauty of the places, not just about the restaurants or anything else, it's also a part of my journey to become an Australian citizen, to be loved by somebody who really loves me, and to be myself as well.'
Callum Domeney, Eloisa Justa and Leonora Coenraads at their home in North Sydney: 'The community that we currently have is something that is being built in this house and fostered. Living in this sort of queer space with queer housemates, or in a queer home, is so nice … It's very fluid. People come, they go, but ultimately I think that everyone respects each other and it's very warm. It feels very much like family,' said Eloisa.
Kimberly O'Sullivan around Blues Point Road, North Sydney: 'North Sydney was like another country. Crossing that bridge, it was like going into another world. Balls Head Reserve was an unofficial dyke picnic place. So when we wanted to go further afield than Centennial park, we'd go across the bridge in a convoy of cars and go to Balls Head which is really beautiful. We would arrive in carloads, lesbians and dogs always together at that time, and we would take over.'
Lucy, Bronte and Frankie at home in Cammeray: 'We had our baby at North Shore [hospital]. We did some classes in the area, and … never met any other two mums or two dads … I think in terms of being mums in the area, we're very intrigued to meet other people at this stage of life and see if there are other people like us around, because we don't at present know anyone like us,' said Bronte.
Solomon Frank at Explosives Reserve: 'I started a queer bushwalking club called Power Botany, which is a very exciting thing for me … It's been this was of cultivating community outside of nightlife spaces, but also an elaborate Ponzi scheme I invented to meet my husband. But that bit's secret.'
Mariana Messias Campos at her mother's home in Mosman: 'I feel like being from an immigrant household, being queer is still something that is taboo and it's not necessarily accepted. So when you're already Latinx and in the North Shore trying to find your way through how to be accepted and how to defend yourself, those intersections of my personality were really hard to manage.'
Anonymous at the Coal Loader, Waverton: 'Being near the water reminds me of home … I'm not out to anyone in Hong Kong, in my family. I forget sometimes that it's quite radical to be queer there … I think my great-grandma might have been queer or a lesbian. [She] lived with a woman who was her best friend until she died. I think that's more fun to live like that, that my memory of her is now queer.'
