The emotional moment was brief, but Dirk Wallace caught it - and it was the obvious frame to use in a NAIDOC Week exhibition.

Eleven Indigenous community members connected to the Westside Community Centre took part in the project.

Among them was Yidinji woman Rosina Galbraith, whose great-grandfather Claude Ponto was a tracker of Ned Kelly.

"It was good fun," she said.

"I haven't really [had my photo taken], the only other time was for my wedding."

Ms Galbraith explained in her profile for the series that her parents advocated for the issue of stolen wages.

"I class myself as an Aboriginal woman before I am an Australian," she said.

"I love my culture and heritage. Teaching my children and taking them home to country is important."

Ms Galbraith supported the Recognition in Anthem Project, which has been publicised recently by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who endorsed a word change to "we are one and free".

"They need to change the lyrics, I think it will be a good thing for all Aboriginal people," she said.

Legacies of advocacy for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were represented by many in the exhibition.

Wurundjeri man Ben Smith is a descendant of William Barrack, who was Ngurungaeta (clan leader) at the Coranderrk mission in Healesville and would walk to Melbourne to attend court to fight for the land.

"My culture is very important to me; it keeps me and my daughter connected," Mr Smith's profile reads.

"My daughter has blonde hair and blue eyes. Being connected to our culture means it helps make people aware of how different we all are.

"I think respect is extremely important.

"I would like to see Aboriginal culture become part of everyday life throughout Australia; the languages, the medicines and the ways of our families."

To ensure the profiles are still seen, various viewing sessions are being held.

Centre manager Tracy Zani said profiling community members seemed like the perfect way to acknowledge the week's theme of "Always was, always will be".

"Something every participant pointed out was they want their culture to be shared with future generations," she said.

"There's a lot of very special people that we could have spoken to.

"Every person's story is unique and we have learned so much."

The portraits were done at Turks Head Gallery by owner Dirk Wallace.

"One thing that came out for me is they're very positive about NAIDOC Week and about this community centre," he said.

"They said there's people from tribes from all over Australia who come to this one place.

"It was really nice to be involved."

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Stacey Franklin said putting the exhibition together with her team, she had "learned more in this NAIDOC" than ever before.

"For myself, it's frightening to ask, because you don't want to offend, but I think it's important to ask and we learn a lot more if we do."

The portraits are of Khesan Kilby, Robert Murray, Chloe Smith, Raymond Glenn Williams, Susan Miller, Benji Davison, Alison Reid, Alice Maher, Gina Davis, Rosina Galbraith and Ben Smith.