Birds of a feather
Photographer Grier Neilson is on a mission to turn her lens on older women, empowering them to step out of the shadows and embrace the beauty and wisdom of ageing.
When photographer Grier Neilson tuned into an industry webinar in 2023 to hear that women aged in their 50s are the least photographed demographic, she was appalled.
“I thought, ‘hang on a second. I’m turning 50 next year. I don’t like that. I want to help these women be seen’,” Grier says.
“The more I spoke to women in their 50s the more I realised this was a real problem. They feel invisible. I was determined to change that narrative.”
So began a passion project for this self-taught photographer, who then set about photographing 49 other women who were turning 50 in 2024.
Grier explains that’s how her Flock 50 idea was “hatched”.
“Everything has to do with feathers or birds because for me feathers represent us as women,” she says. “Feathers weather the storms, they come in many sizes and colours, water runs from them, and they represent freedom. I love feathers, they are really important to me.”
Grier, who is also a hair and make-up artist and body painter, began the project with her own self portrait, a way to show potential subjects exactly what she was trying to achieve.
“I’d done plenty of self-portraits for business before, but I’d never done one of myself in underwear,” Grier says. “I did a couple of shots wearing a big furry jacket and nothing underneath, and another taken on the bed with the sheets sort of over my legs.
“It was a beautiful experience for me, and you could see the excess skin from having my babies more than 18 years ago and I thought, ‘I love these so much’.
“As a photographer I often hear women saying, ‘can you change this or remove that or get rid of those lines’, but for me that is part of their story and the beauty of who they are. I think we should be celebrating those lines and scars and the journey that our bodies have taken us through.
“The aim of Flock 50 was to say, ‘let’s be proud of who we are, let’s be proud of our bodies and what it means to be in our 50s’.”
Some of the women who signed up to be part of Flock 50 were friends, but many were strangers who had simply heard about the concept and wanted to take part. They came from all walks of life including a jewellery maker, bookkeeper, podiatrist, landscape designer and a beauty therapist.
The Flock 50 project evolved into a coffee table book featuring all of Grier’s images, Flock 50: More than 2,500 years of collaborative wisdom CELEBRATION – SELF-LOVE – EMPOWERMENT.
The book was launched at a photographic exhibition, which also featured the “Flockers” or “Flock Stars” as these women now call themselves. The exhibition took place at Chapel Hill winery last year as part of the SALA Festival.
The cost for each participant to be included in Flock 50 was $2000 and included the shoot itself with hair and make-up, plus digital copies of their photographs, a framed exhibition print and a copy of the book.
“The real investment is saying yes to yourself, your story and the woman you are,” Grier says.
Before she even picked up her camera, Grier asked each woman to fill in a questionnaire to get to know them, then they workshopped ideas around locations, props and outfits to ensure each woman felt comfortable.
“And then what organically unfolds in the moment is what’s captured,” Grier says.
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The photoshoots took place around South Australia, including in forests at Blackwood and Mount Crawford, by the sea at Willunga, at a studio in Port Adelaide and at a bed and breakfast in Crafers.
Through her company Bohemian Ekko Creative, Grier says that she has always loved to work with women, focused on helping them “see the beauty in themselves” through her photography.
“As mums especially, we tend to be behind the camera a lot more taking photos of our kids growing up, and I think through body changes and age, there’s an insecurity,” she says. “A lot of women say, ‘I don’t like photos of myself … I don’t like looking at myself. Sometimes it brings me to tears. I had a lot of tears last year through the empowerment of Flock 50, listening to women’s stories and how they felt about themselves, and wanting to help them change that narrative.
“They would say, ‘I’d like to be a part of this, Grier, so I can learn to love myself’. When they do decide to take part, I enjoy the process of being able to then just hold space for them.
“You can be beautiful on the outside for people to see, but beauty really does come from the inside, and being able to express that visually, I guess a lot of people haven’t understood that until they experience something like this, where they don’t see themselves as beautiful and then they step in front of the lens.
“To be able to have someone step in front of the camera feeling so nervous and anxious and say, ‘I almost didn’t come’. Then to put them at ease, have them feel comfortable, and then at the end of the process see the photos and say, ‘I’ve never seen myself as beautiful before’. It gives me goosebumps. It’s so powerful.”
Grier is now working on a second book where she will expand the Flock 50 idea to include older women.
“There was a real momentum around the exhibition last year and so many women of all ages said, ‘I want to be a part of this’,” Grier says. “So, I thought, ‘why not include women in their 60s, 70s and 80s, and if they want to, women in their 90s? Why put an age cap on it?’.”
One of those who will appear in the next book is Grier’s mother, Julie Neilson-Kelly, who is 74 years of age.
“Mum asked me, ‘can I be in your Flock?’ and I said, ‘of course’,” Grier says.
“It had been a really tough year for our family, and particularly Mum, who lost her husband Malcolm and her parents, my grandparents, all within 16 months.
“I was always a bit nervous to photograph Mum in case the end result wasn’t good enough, but the Flock was the perfect time. We’ve already done the photos, we sourced an MGB car, because those cars are a part of her story with her late husband. Then we added in Mum’s beloved dog Valentino. When Mum looked over the photos, she just said, ‘I feel loved’.”
Grier says she hopes the Flock 50 project inspires all women to embrace their bodies and feel proud and confident in their own skin.
“You don’t know what tomorrow will bring, and I say this to all my clients: capture now, this is now, this is where we’re living.
“Today is the day, because when you can see yourself through someone else’s lens, you can see what we see and how amazing you are.”
This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
