Elsebeth Nielsen

Travelling to London in the 1960s, she met and married New Zealand poet, David Mitchell and they migrated to New Zealand where their daughter Sara was born.

In Sydney, Australia Elsebeth started her career in fashion modelling and worked in Australia, New Zealand and Europe during the late 60s and early 70s.

It was during a shoot for a cigarette commercial in Bali, that Elsebeth wanted out from the industry and on return to Australia, she packed up house. With new partner Edwin Buivids and daughter Sara they began to travel extensively throughout South East Asia, Nepal and India. After travelling for two years, they returned and settled on the north coast of New South Wales, where they married and had two daughters, Maia and Sofia. They became involved with the burgeoning Green Activist Movement, protesting and photographing several rainforest campaigns including Terania Creek, Mount Nardi, and The Franklin River in Tasmania.

In November, 1983 Elsebeth was part of the Women’s Peace Camp campaign at Pine Gap, Central Australia, an American first strike warning surveillance base. During this time, she met with indigenous women on their homelands. Six months later, Elsebeth and family began working on an Aboriginal community in Central Australia, for a year.

Returning to the Northern Rivers, NSW, Elsebeth embarked on a new career facilitating art and craft workshops for Aboriginal women in regional NSW. She eventually left teaching after ten years and created her own fashion label, utilizing natural fibres and her own designs.

Sadly, Eslebeth passed away on the seventh of April 2026, just as this book was going to print.