Become a Visual Historian

Are you a young person (18-25) living in Narrm/Melbourne or Djilang/Geelong? Are you interested in documenting how your city is changing, and getting your creative work into archival records? Do you want to challenge whose stories count as history and what it means to make histories on unceded lands? We want to hear from you!

About the Role

Making Histories is recruiting ten paid (casual) Visual Historians—five based in Narrm/Melbourne working with RMIT University, and five based in Djilang/Geelong working with Deakin University. While the two groups are anchored in their own cities, all ten Visual Historians will collaborate across the project.
 
We're looking for young people aged 18–25 to develop creative approaches to history-making with their communities. We are interested in co-developing ethical and relational frameworks for the creation of community histories which have been underrepresented or misrepresented in national images and archives. You'll work alongside researchers, artists, and experts from the photography, history, education, and museum sectors to develop new ways of documenting life in your city—and new pathways for that work to enter the public record.
 
You will retain copyright of your work, will always be credited as its author, and your images will only be reproduced with your permission. 

Key Tasks (may include)

• Attend key dates and training workshops run by the research project team (indicative dates subject to change: Sept 28, Sept 30, Oct 2, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 13, Oct 14)

• Attend First Nations-led cultural safety and racial literacy workshops exploring documentary storytelling on unceded lands 

• Conduct photographic and sound-based fieldwork and research related to the project

• Attend in-person fortnightly sessions with the research team and other Visual Historians  

• Collaborate with the research team on the curation of works for exhibition and publication

• Undertake self-led fieldwork and personal project development  

• Additional duties as required 

Skills / Experience

• Identify as a young person, preferably between 18-25 

• Belong to a community/communities in Naarm/Melbourne and Djilang/Geelong who are under-represented and/or misrepresented in public histories, archives and mainstream education

• Interest in decolonial thought and action as it relates to history-making on unceded lands

• Interest in working in an intergenerational team of researchers across history, documentary, creative arts, and education

• Skills in photography, film, documentary, community organising and/or history-making

• A willingness to collaborate and share photographic, video and/or sound works in public exhibitions and publications 

• Willing to exhibit your photography in different contexts and present your research to different audiences, including, for example, young people in schools, galleries and museums. 

• Good communication skills and a willingness to collaborate with an intergenerational research team  

No formal experience is required. We're interested in your perspective, your community connection, and your curiosity.

This role is engaged on a casual basis for up to two years. 

How to Apply​

Applications are made through VideoAsk, a platform that lets you record short video or audio responses, whichever you're most comfortable with. You'll be asked to respond to three prompts about:
 

• your interest in community histories of your city

• your experiences with creative, historical, social, or community-based practices, including any experience with photography or other lens-based work

• anything further you'd like to share about your community and your lived experience which might be relevant to this project

You will then be prompted to upload your CV with optional link or up to 10 images of recent work, along with your contact details. 

Applications close Friday 7 August, 2026.

Download the Job Posting Content here. 

For more information, please contact david.rousell@rmit.edu.au and jacina.leong@rmit.edu.au