Documenting the African Diaspora in Australia

I'm Michael Shiferaw Zewdie, an Ethiopian-Australian photographer based in Sydney, documenting the African diaspora experience in Australia through honest, unscripted imagery.

My work is grounded in the belief that every moment — whether a quiet personal milestone or the pulse of a community gathering — holds a story worth preserving. Through ETEBT, an ongoing long-form portrait archive, I'm building a permanent visual record of diaspora life in this country: the intimacy, the resilience, the beauty of lives lived between cultures.

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, I find meaning in imperfection and the fleeting. My documentary approach ensures images feel authentic, never staged — capturing what is, not what should be.

I work with individuals, community organisations, NGOs, and brands who value genuine representation over performative imagery. While Sydney is home, my practice extends across Australia and I'm currently available for portraits, event documentation, brand storytelling, and long-term documentary partnerships.

You can also find me hosting AfrikaCOnnexion, a weekly radio show exploring African music and culture, and writing MikMik Musings, a newsletter on storytelling and the Global South. Or discover my first book, Mesiyasi.

Small green corrugated metal building with two doors, one with a sign indicating toilets, three red chairs in front, grass and trees surrounding the building.
Tall grasses with feathery seed heads in a natural outdoor setting.
An Ethiopian Australian woman with curly hair wearing a traditional Ethaiopian shemma dress, with a sunflower in her hair, and silver jewelry, standing in a busy indoor setting.
Blue sky with a few clouds, some trees at the bottom, and pigeons flying in the sky.
A young man lying on a grassy area under a large tree, wearing a red and orange shirt and dark pants, with the tree's thick branches and foliage overhead.
Close-up of an elderly man with a bald head and gray beard, wearing white traditional attire with colorful rainbow stripes on the shoulder, standing against a plain background.
A man wearing sunglasses, a leather jacket, and white pants, leaning against a stone wall with a barred window above him, viewed through a chain-link fence, in a black and white photo.
A man in a blue suit and clerical collar speaking at a podium with a microphone, with colorful flowers hanging on the wall behind him.
A man with a beard and sunglasses smiling and looking to the right, wearing a white shirt, a gold necklace, and a dark jacket over his shoulder, standing outdoors in front of a blurred stone wall.
An older man with glasses and a mustache fishing on a beach under a partly cloudy sky, with a woman sitting in the background wearing a hat.
Woman in traditional embroidered white dress with red and blue accents, holding a flowing piece of fabric, possibly performing a traditional dance.