Australia’s largest photography festival returns in March 2024 for its third edition: PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography.
The award-winning biennale features an art trail of 100 free exhibitions and outdoor art installations to explore across seven Festival Precincts in Melbourne, as well as five cities in regional Victoria – presented in partnership with over 50 museums and galleries including ACMI, State Library Victoria, Museum of Australian Photography, and the Centre for Contemporary Photography.
Addressing the theme, The Future Is Shaped by Those Who Can See It, PHOTO 2024’s expansive program invites audiences to discover the possible and parallel futures that lie ahead, and how current actions are shaping future realities – from AI-generated images and surveillance evasion to climate futures and animal espionage.
“The world has changed immeasurably in recent years and what lies ahead is far from certain,” said Founder/Artistic Director, Elias Redstone. “At PHOTO 2024, visionary artists and photographers are sharing their insights of the world as it is today to raise questions about what lies in store for us tomorrow.”
PHOTO 2024 features over 150 contemporary photographers and artists from Australia and around the world, including exclusive presentations by Ryan McGinley (USA), Omar Victor Diop (Senegal), Carmen Winant (USA), Edward Burtynsky (Canada), Mous Lamrabat (Morocco), Candice Breitz (South Africa), Cao Fei (China), and CAMP (India).
PHOTO 2024 also celebrates three Icons of Photography: Nan Goldin (USA), Malick Sidibé (Mali) and Rennie Ellis (Australia).
PHOTO 2024 Highlights include:
- 29 large-scale outdoor displays at iconic locations across Melbourne such as Parliament of Victoria, St Paul’s Cathedral and Fed Square, with new commissions by Australian artists Jemima Wyman (palawa), Angela Tiatia, Amos Gebhardt, Zoe Croggon, Elisa Carmichael (Quandamooka), Sammaneh Pourshafighi, Jo Duck and Kenton/Davey.
- PHOTO 2024’s Icons of Photography exhibitions include Nan Goldin’s landmark series The Ballad of Sexual Dependency at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, an immersive exhibition re-imagining Rennie Ellis’s image archive at State Library Victoria, and the first Australian exhibition of Malian photographer Malick Sidibé on the State Library’s forecourt.
- A monumental 20-metre photograph by Nan Goldin capturing an intimate moment of her parents kissing, installed on the façade of Fed Square facing Flinders St and Hosier Lane.
- Presentations by prominent First Nations artists and photographers Tony Albert (Girramay/Kuku Yalanji), Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/ Boonwurrung), Julie Gough (Trawlwoolway), Peta Clancy (Bangerang), Jody Haines (Palawa), Corben Mudjandi (Mirrarr), Tace Stevens (Noongar/Spinifex), and more.
- Queer PHOTO – a mini-festival of queer photography presented by PHOTO 2024 and Midsumma Festival across Footscray Community Arts, The Substation, Trocadero Projects, and Wyndham Art Gallery and Werribee Park, with 14 exhibitions including Australian Premieres by Sunil Gupta (India/Canada/UK), Clifford Prince King (USA), FAFSWAG (Aotearoa New Zealand), Vic Bakin (Ukraine), and new commissions by local artists Lilah Benetti, Salote Tawale and Leilani Fuimaono.
- New solo exhibitions by established Australian women photographers including Rosemary Laing, Debra Phillips, Janet Laurence, Julie Millowich, Jill Orr, and 2023 Bowness Photography Prize winner Anne Zahalka.
- The World Premiere of Extraction – a series by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky documenting Australian resource mining landscapes, at the Museum of Australian Photography.
- The Australian Premiere of celebrated American artist Ryan McGinley’s Yearbook installation featuring hundreds of portraits of youth at Shepparton Art Museum.
- 7 Photographs that Shaped the Future – an exhibition of images that changed the course of history, presented outside St Paul’s Cathedral on Melbourne’s Swanston Street.
- Uncanny Valley: Photography, Tech and the Hyperreal outside Melbourne’s Old Treasury Building presents a series of images on the front line of digital creation from artists including Darren Sylvester (Australia), John Yuyi (Taiwan) and Boris Eldagsen (Germany).
- New Photographers exhibition showcasing six of Melbourne’s most exciting new talent, featuring Teva Cosic, Pearce Leal, Kyle Archie-Knight (Wiradjuri), Nicholas Mahady, Cecilia Sordi Campos, and Erhan Tirli.
PHOTO 2024’s engaging events program of tours, talks, film screenings and workshops concentrate on four focus weekends that allow photography lovers at all levels to participate – from Opening Weekend celebrations and Regional Weekend excursions, to stimulating discussions on the future of photography at the Ideas Weekend, and a world of photography books to browse and buy at the Photobook Weekend.
PHOTO 2024 is presented by PHOTO Australia in collaboration with 50 cultural, education, industry, government and corporate partners including City of Melbourne and Creative Victoria.
“We’re delighted to welcome the third edition of PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography to the streets of Melbourne, including the incredible free art trail that weaves through the city’s iconic landmarks and laneways,” said City of Melbourne Lord Mayor, Sally Capp.
“This is Melbourne’s moment to come together and celebrate the magic of photography; an art that helps us all connect as we set our sights on a shared future. The impressive scale of PHOTO 2024 bolsters our city’s status as an international arts capital and elevates the unique vision of Melburnian artists alongside the world’s best,” said Ms Capp.
“PHOTO 2024 is transforming the streets of Victoria into vibrant, free art galleries for everyone to enjoy the work of world-leading photographic artists. We’re proud to back this festival, the largest of its kind in Australia, making art more accessible with a busy program of tours, talks, film screenings and workshops,” said Minister for Creative Industries, The Hon. Colin Brooks.
PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography takes place across Melbourne and Victoria from 1 – 24 March. For more information and full program, visit: www.photo.org.au for details.
Image: Rennie Ellis, Melbourne Out Loud – courtesy of PHOTO 2024