Responding to the theme ‘The Future Is Shaped by Those Who Can See It’, our third edition saw over 150 visionary artists and photographers share their insights into life as it is today to raise questions about what lies in store for us tomorrow – from AI-generated images and novel ways to avoid surveillance, to climate futures and animal espionage.
Audiences were invited to explore a trail of 100 free exhibitions and outdoor art installations across seven Festival Precincts in Melbourne, as well as five cities in regional Victoria. PHOTO 2024 featured some of the biggest names in contemporary photography – Nan Goldin, Malick Sidibé, Ryan McGinley, Carmen Winant, and Edward Burtynsky to name a few – alongside rising stars that point to the future of the medium.
The program featured important First Nations voices, queer artists from around the world, and new work by some of Australia’s most celebrated women photographers including Rosemary Laing, Debra Phillips, Janet Laurence, Julie Millowick, Jill Orr, and 2023 Bowness Photography Prize winner Anne Zahalka.
This year saw 29 large-scale outdoor displays at iconic locations across Melbourne such as Parliament of Victoria, St Paul’s Cathedral and Melbourne Town Hall—not to mention a monumental 20-metre installation by Nan Goldin on the façade of Fed Square’s Atrium. We also brought art to the Fed Square screen, with exclusive screenings by the likes of Cao Fei, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Noémie Goudal.
Exclusive exhibitions included New Photographers featuring Melbourne’s most promising new talents; Uncanny Valley: Photography, Tech and the Hyperreal that presented portraits of cyborgs alongside portraits by cyborgs; and 7 Photographs that Shaped the Future, a shortlist of images that have changed the course of history.
A special addition for PHOTO 2024 was Queer PHOTO, Melbourne’s first festival of queer photography presented by Midsumma and PHOTO Australia. Works by international artists such as Sunil Gupta, Clifford Prince King, Daniel Jack Lyons, FAFSWAG and Vic Bakin sat alongside new commissions by local artists including Lilah Benetti, Salote Tawale and Leilani Fuimaono.
In addition to the artistic program, we presented a full events program of tours, talks, film screenings and workshops, concentrated across four focus weekends that allow photography lovers at all levels to participate – from Opening Weekend celebrations and Regional Weekend excursions, to stimulating discussions at the Ideas Weekend, and a world of photography books to browse and buy at the Photobook Weekend. Our first Ideas Summit brought together some of the most exciting minds in photography and visual culture.
PHOTO 2024’s expansive program invited curiosity about the possible and parallel futures that lie ahead – those we hope for, and those we fear – and a provocation to question how our lives in the present can impact our individual and collective futures.
