Carolyn West (b. 1994, Derby, Western Australia) is a photographer, creative director, writer, and anthropologist. Their work focuses on broad themes of mobility, queerness and sexuality, and religion and spirituality. Carolyn’s work is interdisciplinary and takes form in the mediums of photography, video, written, and spoken word while employing a variety of documentary and ethnographic practices.
Carolyn graduated with a degree in Media Communication and Public Relations from Deakin University in 2016, and achieved their Graduate Diploma in Anthropology from the University of Melbourne in 2021.
Since 2015 Carolyn has worked as a freelance creative, assisting over 30+ businesses in driving strategic initiatives across creative content direction and digital media strategy. The core of their work includes utilising in-depth research to inform visual media and digital communication strategies for not-for-profit enterprises and the food, travel and lifestyle industries.
In true multi-passionate style, some days Carolyn is behind a camera (where they prefer to be), and other days they are co-authoring a syllabus for higher education, researching and scripting educational YouTube content, consulting in digital and social media strategy, and producing podcasts. When they aren’t doing these things, you’re likely to run into Carolyn carrying a backpack across the world somewhere, or overlanding Australia in their van.
Carolyn is a research assistant with Curtin University contributing to the TikTok Cultures Research Network, podcast host and writer with The Familiar Strange, and writing regularly at No Filters. Currently, Carolyn is the lead researcher and producer for the YouTube channel, Unplugged with Eva zu Beck.
Previously, Carolyn has worked directly with a variety of not-for-profit organisations and grass-root campaigns in order to highlight and champion inclusion and accessibility for women working primarily in the coffee and arts industries. Previous projects include driving the social media strategy for indigenous textiles enterprise North, directing, writing and co-hosting the online series, Battle of the Beans, and co-founding The Kore Directive, a coffee community of feministic diversity allies based in London.
Carolyn uses they/them pronouns.
Education
2016, BA media communication & public relations (high distinction) from Deakin Univeristy
2021, GDip Arts anthropology from University of Melbourne
Selected Features
2022
Vice U.K., Are You Getting Any? I Was Raised Catholic, Now I'm Sex-Positive
The Familiar Strange, Ep. #87: Squatting in the Stag, Adrian Watts on Activism and Squats
The Familiar Strange, Ep. #88: Creating Queer Space and the Lenses of War
2021
The Familiar Strange, Ep. #85: Photography through an ethnographer’s lens. Image making with Jason de Leon
The Familiar Strange, Ep. #72: Weaponised photography and sex work, Camille Waring on online intimacies and lens based violence
The Familiar Strange, If You’re Seeing This, You Are on Ex-Mormon TikTok
The Familiar Strange, Exploring Faith and Space with Hillsong Church
The Familiar Strange, Ep. #80: Reborn Dolls and the uses of Social Sciences
2020
The Familiar Strange, Navigating Lockdown: What Studying Vipassana Mediation Taught Me About Surviving Melbourne’s Intense Lockdown
Australian Network of Student Anthropologists, Visual Ethnography Competition Winner: Carolyn West, The Murex Lure.
The Familair Strange, Ep #67 Face Ownership, Identity politics, Election Spectacle & Curated Preferences
The Familiar Strange, Ep #65 The Social Dilemma, Corpo-Humans, Buying Nothing & Localised Colonialism
Selected Clients
Bumble UK, Diageo UK, La Marzocco UK, Oatly, Stoke Travel, Grind, Pivot Summit, Barista Magazine, Broadsheet, Deakin University, The Barista League
Selected Press
Vice U.K., The Age, Art Almanac, ABC Australia, ABC-7, Caffeine Magazine, Barista Magazine, Geelong Advertiser, The Urban List, SYN radio