Fyshwick women working

For outsiders, and even for many people in Australia's capital Canberra, the industrial suburb of Fyshwick is known for two industries–sex work and fireworks. Fyshwick is a place of many stories. It’s the suburb where you find yourself when you need a piece of furniture or a new fridge, greengrocers with a fruit market feel, a tonne of wood chips, a replacement part for your gas, or your cooling, or your PC. You’ll head to Fyshwick if you want a secondhand safe or a hay bale. Fyshwick can seem like a land of, and for, blokes. Scratch that surface though, and you’ll find many women at work there, some at the front desk or customer interface, but many in hi vis, on the tools and out the back. The women depicted in this Fyshwick story will help you with wedding dresses, Harry-Potter themed parties, hi vis and safety signs, recycled fashion, Perspex screens, a trophy (even an etched glass shoey…), an antique or collectible, a Christmas tree or even a repaired diff. They'll even mind your mutt. In this project I wanted to bring some of the other essential workers into the light. I wanted to remind myself and others that there are more careers than we can dream of, and may pathways to them. I am grateful to the women working in Fyshwick who have given me their time, trusted me with their stories, shared with me their profound expertise and their sense of fun!