Head On Photo Festival

Venue: Various locations. See website for details.
Location: Sydney
1 May - 31 May, 2015
Web: http://www.headon.com.au

During the month of May, Sydney will become a veritable orgy of photography courtesy of the Head On Photo Festival, turning the city into a living exhibition. Beside the various competition exhibitions, across the city, hundreds of other exhibition will be on show as part of the festival.

From the central festival hub in Lower Town Hall all the way to the Blue Mountains, Head On Photo Festival presents a cross-section of all the best and most cutting-edge photography on offer internationally. This year, just some of the stars include Michael Robinson Chavez of The LA Times and prominent Iranian photo artist, Gohar Dashti. The festival will also present a number of workshops including Creating & packaging your visual story, Movie Making for Photographers - Photoshop, Lightroom and Premier Pro and Plastic Camera Magic.

If you only visit one spot this year, head to the Festival Hub at Sydney Lower Town Hall. With 9 incredible exhibitions hand picked by festival director Moshe Rosenzveig from across the globe, the Festival Hub captures the photographic world at its most diverse. The Hub runs from 1 – 10 May.

Besides a number of exhibitons around the Sydney region, two major highlights of the festival this year include a masterclass and portfolio review. Click here for the full program.

Masterclass: For Inception to Publication - Creating and Packaging your Visual Story
Head On’s biggest workshop to date will be led by Getty photographer Benjamin Lowy, LA Times Chief Photographer Michael Robinson Chávez and Facebook Pages Picture Editor Marvi Lacar. Drawing together creative, commercial, freelance, photojournalistic, editorial and marketing perspectives gained from a combined 40 years in the industry.

Portfolio reviews
Head On’s annual Portfolio Review pulls together a panel of industry experts from across the globe to review your portfolio and provide tips on how to break into the area of the industry you are working towards. Choose your preferred industry leaders from a list including gallery directors, curators, photojournalists and editors from institutions including The LA Times, NewsDay, Fairfax, Stills Gallery, Magnum Photography and The Brownbill Effect.
More info...

© Davide Monteleone/VII
ROMA - GENNAIO 2006, PAPA BENEDETTO XVI — © Davide Monteleone/VII ROMA - GENNAIO 2006, PAPA BENEDETTO XVI

Organised by: Head On

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February

Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light

Melbourne: 28 Nov 2025 – 26 May 2026. The exhibition celebrates the wide-ranging photographic practices of more than eighty women artists working between 1900 and 1975.

180 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne VIC 3006 NGV | 1 Feb - 26 May, 2026

Unfinished Business: a 3D photography exhibition

Sydney: Until 11 April. Unfinished Business brings together the voices of 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities from remote, regional, and urban communities across Australia.

1 William St, Sydney NSW 2010 Australian Musem | 1 Feb - 19 Apr, 2026

Trent Parke: The Christmas tree bucket

Canberra: Until 6 Sept 2026. Trent Parke’s photographic series The Christmas tree bucket 2006–09 is a tender and darkly humorous portrayal of his extended family coming together to celebrate Christmas.

National Gallery of Australia (NGA) Parkes Place East, Parkes ACT 2600 | 2 Feb - 6 Sep, 2026

Familial – presented by CCP

Melbourne: 11 Feb – 25 April 2026. Familial brings together six international artists whose work navigates the emotional and psychological terrain of family.

360 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn, Victoria Town Hall Gallery – Hawthorn Arts Centre | 11 Feb - 25 Apr, 2026

March

Mervyn Bishop: Close Up

Sydney: Until 7 Feb 2027. From his archive of more than 200,000 images, Close Up celebrates the historic moments and pivotal people he famously captured.

1 Shakespeare Place Sydney NSW 2000 State Library of NSW | 1 Mar, 2026 - 7 Feb, 2027

NSW at Night

Sydney: 03 March – 26 March 2026. NSW at Night is a photography exhibition offering a glimpse into life after dark across New South Wales, through the people, places and rhythms that shape it.

6 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 Fountain Court, Parliament House | 3 Mar - 26 Mar, 2026

On the street where I live: Viva Gibb's portrait of North and West Melbourne

Melbourne: 5 March – 7 August 2026. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, artist and social documentary photographer Viva Gibb (1945-2017) documented the suburbs of North and West Melbourne, where she lived.

110 Swanston St Melbourne 3000 City Gallery – Melbourne Town Hall | 5 Mar - 7 Aug, 2026

Coded Blooms | flowers have never been innocent

Melbourne: 7 March – 24 May 2026. Photos of flowers from the NGA collection by prominent photographers drawn such as Robert Mapplethorpe and four groundbreaking Australian photographers.

860 Ferntree Gully Road Wheelers Hill Victoria 3150 Australia Museum of Australian Photography | 7 Mar - 24 May, 2026

TOPshots 2026

Melbourne: 10 March – 5 May 2026. TOPshots is an annual celebration of emerging photo-media artists selected from a large pool of entries.

860 Ferntree Gully Road Wheelers Hill Victoria 3150 Museum of Australian Photography | 10 Mar - 5 May, 2026

The City Is Not Still - Andrew Tan and Rosalind Pach

Melbourne: 13 – 22 March 2026. Award-winning photographers Andrew Tan and Rosalind Pach invite you to explore the city as a living, shifting experience.

Level 2, 125 Smith St, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia, Victoria 3065 Fitzroy Public Gallery | 13 Mar - 22 Mar, 2026