On behalf of the entire team at PHOTO Australia I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your incredible support and participation in this year’s edition, PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography.

 

PHOTO 2024 celebrated artists looking to possible futures through photography, showcased breathtaking outdoor artworks, featured landmark exhibitions, and championed Melbourne’s vibrant photographic community.

 

Your support helped PHOTO 2024 reach new heights, including:

• A record 310,000+ attendees
• Our largest program yet featuring 150 artists and photographers across 100 exhibitions, 42 of them curated by PHOTO Australia
• Over 110 events, including our first-ever global Ideas Summit
• A special Festival of Queer Photography – Queer PHOTO – presented in partnership with Midsumma

 

As we reflect on this year’s successes, we’re already looking ahead to the next festival PHOTO 2026 and plan to make it our best yet.

 

When I started PHOTO Australia in 2018, I had a vision to create a moment of exchange between Australian photographic talent and the world, elevating Melbourne’s place on the international photography scene.

 

Seeing emerging talents supported through our New Photographers program, presentations by international icons like Ryan McGinley and Nan Goldin celebrated in Australia, and our city activated with beautiful installations at PHOTO 2024 means we’re well on the way to achieving that vision. We also brought leading international photography curators to Melbourne to meet Australian artists, creating opportunities to present their work overseas.

 

Each year our small team punches above their weight to deliver the festival at an impressive scale. But what most people don’t know is that we have no ongoing organisational Government funding, with private donations making up 38% of our yearly income.

 

The PHOTO festival – which is almost entirely free – helps make the best contemporary photography accessible to everyone. To keep putting it on, we need your support.

 

If you can, consider making a donation to support the future of PHOTO in Melbourne, keeping it free, for all. You’ll be making history by supporting incredible photographers and artists at PHOTO 2026, from the very beginning of our festival journey.

 

For now, I’ll leave you with reflections from some of the amazing artists we had the honour of working with at PHOTO 2024.
Stay tuned for more info from me about PHOTO 2026.

 

All the best,

 

Elias Redstone
Founder/Artistic Director
PHOTO Australia