We kick off 2026’s edition of Digital Stories with Filipino-Australian local photographer and videographer, Justin Cueno.   

Justin walks us through how his artistic journey began and continues to grow.

He takes us behind the lens to celebrate not only the craft and discipline of his practice but also the community, friends and peers that have contributed to his career along the way.

The film, One Degree of Separation,  is a story about craft, community, and finding your eye.  

Q&A with Justin Cueno

1. Introduce yourself and share a little bit of your cultural background

I am Justin Cueno, a 23 year old Filipino Australian.

What it means to be me and my cultural background, is to connect with people, Filipinos at the core love to be with their family and their communities. As a creative, this is essentially my practice: to connect stories and my cultural background, and to find a platform for them.

2. Describe your artistic practice: what motivates and inspires your work?

I love connecting with people and hearing their stories. My motivation is being able to work on projects and share them with larger audiences, especially ones that live within the everyday. I have a special appreciation for people who work hard and when I am surrounded by people like that such as my family and friends, it pushes me to work non-stop.

In a non toxic way, I feel very blessed that my life is my work, because I worked hard to be here! I get a rush when I get to photograph people who are doing incredible things or even get a platform to share their work.

3. How did the idea for this film come about?

When I walked into Common House Studio in 2023, I felt the change in my career. I took the opportunity to meet everyone who came through those doors, hanging around there.

I have this theory that everyone within the Sydney creative scene has ‘One Degree of Separation’ from each other and that when you meet the next person you are already acquainted from the start.

This film was inspired by that theory, and these people are at the core of my journey from that point in 2023 until now. Some of these talented people were just meeting each other for the first time, but I wanted to be the person who was one degree away. I always imagined what it would be like to gather all the people you look up to, that group shot you see at the end feels like one of my greatest works. It’s not even about technicality, it’s more about the significance of having these people who have pioneered the creative scene, particularly within western Sydney.

I love giving people their flowers for the work they’ve done.

4. What do you hope audiences take away from the film, or better understand after watching it?

I hope the people watching this can better understand the importance of finding your people. It’s not about networking to get to the top, it’s about people who love your ideas and challenge them. You are meant to grow together and that’s the natural way of doing it, because I feel like good work is made with passion and love!

When you love what you do with your community, you will get where you need to be. I hope the audience is curious enough to see who was involved and look at their amazing work too.

This project is presented by Blacktown Arts and supported by Blacktown City Council and the NSW Government through Create NSW.