What To Know About PHOTO 2022 This Year

Returning to the streets of Melbourne and regional Victoria this year, PHOTO 2022 International Festival of Photography will commence from April 29th to the 22nd of May 2022. Honoring 123 local and international artists and photographers, the festival will span 90 exhibitions, with 50 world premieres including 25 specially commissioned projects.

For its second iteration, the festival creates a space for audiences from across Australia and around the world to be a part of a global celebration of new photography, art and ideas navigating what it means to be human. Across the city and regional areas, PHOTO 2022 will showcase large-scale outdoor installations at iconic and unexpected sites, including ACMI and the NGV Australia with thought-provoking events and educational programs.

Navigating the human condition and current global and universal issues and ideas in the world right now, the festival offers a unique take on narratives surrounding guiding themes, including: Society, Self, Morality, Nature and History. As the press notes state, the exhibitions range "From an Ecuadorian tribe fighting to save the rainforest to Chinese youth culture, and deepfakes to First Nations stories, the diversity and richness of contemporary human life".

Audiences will be able to explore photography by some of the most acclaimed artists from around the world, with exclusive Australian exhibitions by Gillian Wearing (UK), Paul Mpagi Sepuya (US), Mohamed Bourouissa (DZ/FR), Poulomi Basu (IN), Vasantha Yogananthan (FR), Aziz Hazara (AF), Martine Gutierrez (US), Massimo Vitali (IT), Florian Hetz (DE), Philip Montgomery (MX/US) and Luo Yang (CN), amongst others; as well as new commissions by renowned and up and coming Australian artists such as Atong Atem, Naomi Hobson, Dean Cross, Ying Ang, Hannah Bront, Scotty So, Madeline Bishop, Anu Kumar and Patrick Pound.

Additional works of note include large-scale lightboxes along Southbank Promenade, a photography and sound installation by Bidjara artist Christian Thompson in the former courtyard of the Old Melbourne Gaol, Jenny Lewis’ documentation of a community from the ages of 0 to 100, which will be exhibited across over 100 metres of Metro Tunnel construction hoarding; the first exhibition of Hoda Afshar’s critically-acclaimed project Speak the wind at Monash Gallery of Art; exhibitions by local and international queer photographers at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Parliament Gardens and Prahran Square; the world premiere of Ross McDonnell’s project made in collaboration with the ‘Lost Boys of Afghanistan’; portraits of Kulin Nation Elders by James Henry displayed on the steps of Old Treasury Building; and New Photographers, PHOTO 2022’s showcase of emerging talent.

Entry to PHOTO 2022 is free, excluding the HELMUT NEWTON: In Focus exhibition (Adult: $20, Concession: $15, Family: $40). Headline talks program PHOTO Live and the Photobook Weekend are free. Precinct and Cycle Tours are $10 and Collector Tours are $65.

Find everything else you need to know here.