Civilization: The Way We Live Now – group exhibition

Civilization: The Way We Live Now is an international exhibition featuring 200-plus original photographs by over 100 contemporary photographers from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Presented in collaboration with the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/New York/Paris/Lausanne, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, the exhibition explores photographic representations of life in cities and journeys through the shared experiences of life in the urban environment.

© Ashley Gilbertson / VII Network. 1,215 American soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors pray before a pledge of enlistment on July 4, 2008, at a massive re-enlistment ceremony at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in Baghdad, Iraq 2008, from the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot series, type C photograph, 69 x 94 x 5.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
© Ashley Gilbertson/VII Network. 1,215 American soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors pray before a pledge of enlistment on July 4, 2008, at a massive re-enlistment ceremony at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in Baghdad, Iraq 2008, from the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot series, type C photograph, 69 x 94 x 5.5 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Looking at the phenomenal complexity of urban life in the twenty-first century, the exhibition reflects on the ways in which photographers have documented, and held a mirror up to, the increasingly globalised world around us. The selected works create a picture of collective life around the world and document patterns of mass behaviour.

© Reiner Riedler. Wild River, Florida 2005, from the Fake Holidays series, type C photograph, 100 x 120 x 4 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
© Reiner Riedler. Wild River, Florida 2005, from the Fake Holidays series, type C photograph, 100 x 120 x 4 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Through eight key themes, Civilization: The Way We Live Now takes a diverse and multidimensional look at what photographers around the world, including the likes of Candida Höfer, Edward Burtynsky, Amalia Ulman, Hong Hao, and Richard Mosse, are telling us about the state of early twenty-first century civilization.

  • Hive, featuring the work of photographers such as Robert Polidori and Michael Wolf, explores how civilizations press their citizens into cities and the pictorial possibilities offered by the unceasing ebb and flow of crowds, the often-precarious plight of the individual, and the spectacular, ever-changing backdrop of the built environment.
  • Alonetogether, featuring the work of photographers such as Lauren Greenfield, Pieter Hugo and Australians including Trent Parke and Anne Zahalka, considers how, despite living in such close proximity to our neighbours, an increasingly digitised world is leading to decreasing social interaction, causing an increase in people’s isolation.
  • Flow, featuring the work of photographers such as Lee Friedlander and Edward Burtynsky, tracks the visible and invisible movement of people, materials, money and ideas around the world and the impact these systems have on our depersonalised relationship with food, material goods and nature.
  • Persuasion, featuring the work of photographers such as Andreia Alves de Oliveira, Sato Shintaro, Amalia Ulman, and Alec Soth, looks at the influence of advertising, religion, business and politics. 
  • Control, featuring the work of photographers such as Ashley Gilbertson, NOH Suntag and Luca Zanier, highlights the reach of governing bodies around the world and our desire to impose increasing structure on how our civilization develops through governments and their armies, surveillance, architecture, education and business.
  • Rupture, featuring the work of photographers including Taryn Simon, Richard Mosse, Pablo López Luz, Taloi Havini and Stuart Millar, forces us to confront civilizations failures and blind spots through images of detention centres, the flow of refugees, border crossings and environmental degradation.
  • Escape, featuring the work of photographers such as An-My Lê and Olaf Otto Beckerquestions the sometimes dark side of the pleasure industry for all ages ranging from dance floors, cruise ships and amusement parks to communal sport, outdoor pursuits and the joys of solitude.
  • Next, featuring the work of photographers such as Valérie Belin, Michael Najjar and Robert Zhao Renhui,looks to the future but more importantly to the present, where newness and technological advancement have become the norm, investigates the dangers of the speed at which civilization is developing.  
Follow this link for exhibition highlights.

Tickets for the exhibition are available from NGV.MELBOURNE.

© Ahmad Zamroni. Muslims at prayer, Jakarta. More than 90 percent of Indonesia's some 220 million people follow Islam, making it the worlds biggest Muslim nation. 2007, from the Untitled series 2007, pigment inkjet print, 139 x 64 x 5.5 cm.
© Ahmad Zamroni. Muslims at prayer, Jakarta. More than 90 percent of Indonesia's some 220 million people follow Islam, making it the worlds biggest Muslim nation. 2007, from the Untitled series 2007,
pigment inkjet print, 139 x 64 x 5.5 cm.

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

April

Canberra: 27 Feb until 20 July 2025. The National Library has invited renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers to select some of his favourite images from the Fairfax Photo Archive.

Brisbane: Until 13 July 2025. Amateur Brisbane photographer Alfred Henrie Elliott (1870-1954) extraordinary images lay dormant for decades until they were discovered only recently. This exhibition is curated by seven Brisbane photographers.

Sydney: Until 31 Dec 2025. PIX, Australia’s first pictorial news weekly, is brought to life in this exhibition, showcasing its archived images and stories for the very first time.

May

Sydney: 15 May – 19 October. Showcasing 100 incredible images, this remarkable exhibition offers a window into the astonishing variety of life on our planet – and the critical importance of preserving it.

Perth: From 31 May – 28 Sept 2025. Featuring 85 works from three major series – Deep Springs, Overpass, and Cross Country – the exhibition spans twelve years of Contis’s evolving photographic practice.

June

Sydney: Until 6 July. Presenting the results of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, the annual exhibition showcases the best and most important photojournalism and documentary photography of the last year.

Melbourne: June 5 - 16 August 2025. The explore the history of Alan Adler's photobooths and their cultural significance, alongside visual stories told by the community.

Adelaide: 7 June – 16 August. Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, this photographic exhibition captures the experience of lives lived through dance.

Melbourne: 7 June – 31 August. Protest is a Creative Act seeks to address issues around the body, sexuality, race, national identity and the environment.

Canberra; June 19 - July 12 2025. The River Report is a five-day map of when a normal Yitilal (wet season) turned into a major disaster and the local inhabitants were once again displaced.