Language of Light

Feminist photographer Ponch Hawkes' pictures explore themes such as female bodies, sports, circus performers, relationships and identity. Her large body of work is a significant part of the Australian Feminist art movement.

John Street recalls light being a significant thing for him in his childhood in the UK. Moving to Australia, he becomes a food photographer, but switches style to create unique one-off art photographs in a process he calls slow photography.

Jacqueline Mitelman's extensive career as a freelance photographer focuses primarily on portraiture. Her massive body of work includes a wide range of private commissions, featuring a large collection of portraits of important Australians.

Meredith O'Shea believes her working-class upbringing allows her to connect rather easily with her subjects. Her pictures capture people at their most vulnerable, including a series of photos of children she began taking during COVID-19.

Exposed to the racist treatment of Indigenous people through colonial photos, Ricky Maynard embarks on a pursuit to capture the tragic past of Australia's First Nations people and provide an interpretation rooted in his own Aboriginal experience.

Philippine-born Emmanuel Santos' work captures the Orthodox Jewish community in the St Kilda East suburb in Victoria, Australia, and the Jewish diaspora throughout the world. His art photography is displayed in exhibitions worldwide.

Melborne-born Ashley Gilbertson goes from photographing his skateboarding friends in his teens to filming Kosovar refugees in Australia, and eventually travels overseas to photograph refugees in other parts of the world, including Iraq.