Featured

Commissions

Portraits

Kids

Personal

Featured

Christmas

Myer

Anne Louise MTC

AFR

Troye Sivan

Grindr

Ansell

Roadtrip

ABC Eat the Invaders

Mimuu Bodywear

Mental

Science Gallery

Tarts Anon

Courtney Barnett

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Bowness 2024

William

Hannah Gadsby

Darcy Vescio

Commissions

Christmas

Myer

Christmas

Myer

Christmas

Myer

Christmas

Myer

Christmas

Myer

Womens Afghan Soccer Team

AFLW

And Proud

AMEX

And Proud

AMEX

Lookout Kid

Courtney Barnett

Love It

Dulux

Love It

Dulux

Love It

Dulux

Love It

Dulux

Rainbow Giving

10th Anniversary

Four Pillars Gin

10th Anniversary

Four Pillars Gin

10th Anniversary

Four Pillars Gin

Mental

Science Gallery Melbourne

Mental

Science Gallery Melbourne

Mental

Science Gallery Melbourne

Seniors Festival

Mimuu

ABC News

Lisa Millar

ABC News

Tony Armstrong

Australian Indigenous Olympians

Kyah Simon

Australian Indigenous Olympians

Brad Hore

Australian Indigenous Olympians

Grindr

Ansell

Grindr

Ansell

Grindr

Ansell

Grindr

Ansell

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Queering the Collection

Victorian Art Centre

Lookout Kid

Courtney Barnett

Portraits

Troye Sivan

The Good Weekend

Troye Sivan

The Good Weekend

Troye Sivan

Courtney Barnett

Dary Vescio

Anne Louise MTC

AFR

Mark Dreyfus

Missy Higgins

Tamara Shelton

Hannah Gadsby

Tim Ross

Methyl Ethel

4AD

Georgie Tunny

Hannah Gadsby

Vanessa Muradian

Victoria

Tina

Tamara Shelton

Reko Rennie

Jeff Khan

Helen Garner

Lilla Harvey

Renee So

Alice

Shannon Martinez

Maeve Grieve

ABC Health Check

Magda Szubanski

Andrew WK

Kids

Tarts Anon

Levi's

Judd

Sidney

Betrix

Will

Dusty

Sidney

Woolfie

Esther

Little M8s

The Little Mag

Ice Cream Kids

The Little Mag

Happy Birthday

William

Personal

Happy Birthday

Personal

Once in a Lullaby: A Portrait of Australian Rainbow Families

Why Doesn't She Crack a Smile?

Postcards

Mia Mala McDonald

Photographer

Mia create images that feel like a wink and a gut-punch at the same time, bold, theatrical, and impossible to ignore. Her portraits don’t just capture people; they amplify them. Authentic Personality first, always.

She cut her teeth in Victoria’s underage punk scene, camera in hand, chasing authenticity, energy and life. She brings that same spirit to every brief – big ideas, beautiful light, fearless colour, and an uncanny ability to coax honest, electric performances from even the most camera-shy subjects. (She has some really good stories!)

A lifelong advocate for inclusion, Mia brings a nuanced understanding of diversity to every shoot, from authentic casting to creating sets that are generous, collaborative and deeply human. Three CEOs have shed tears on her set… Not because the budget blew out, but because the images revealed something very special.

Mia works across editorial, commercial and personal projects with the same curiosity and creative ambition. She is a regular contributor to The Australian Financial Review, The Monthly and Good Weekend and has delivered campaigns for Apple, Dulux, ABC, Myer, Big W, Australian Government and Breast Cancer Network Australia.

She’s photographed cultural heavyweights including Troye Sivan, Missy Higgins, Magda Szubanski and Helen Garner. Garner said she’d “rather be at the dentist than sitting for a portrait” but a few minutes with Mia and she was all in.

She has received numerous awards including The Martin Kantor Portrait Prize, and the Australian Women in Music Photographer of the Year. This year she is a finalist in the 2026 National Portrait Prize.

Her 2022 published book Once in a Lullaby (M.33) is a love letter and a quiet act of resistance, documenting Australian rainbow families with care, intimacy and zero compromise. This project is held in major institutional collections and is currently on exhibition at the National Gallery Of Victoria.

Follow Mia on Instagram. Visit Mia’s website.

Alison Lydiard

Executive Producer

+61 484 100 414

alison@photoplay.co

Studio 4, 111 McEvoy Street
Alexandria, NSW 2015
Australia