Remembering Michael Silver – founder of MAGNET Galleries Melbourne

Michael Silver, founder and president of MAGNET Galleries Melbourne, passed away on the evening of 10 March 2026. A professional photographer and industry stalwart of 58 years, Michael dedicated his final years to MAGNET Galleries in Docklands. Run alongside his wife Susanne since its inception as New North Gallery in 2010, the gallery remained the primary focus of his energy and passion until the very end.

Michael’s life in photography was truly expansive, a career that saw him traverse every facet of the Australian industry. He moved from the technical mastery of the darkroom to the front lines as an accomplished press photographer, and finally to his roles as a gallerist, historian, and mentor. As an industry stalwart, he didn't just witness the evolution of the craft in Australia; he actively shaped it through his work, mentorship, and unwavering advocacy.

Early life and the press

Silver's first job at just 15 years of age, was at Allan's Studio, 318 Smith Street, Collingwood, from 1967 until 1969. It was a major studio in Melbourne founded by Mark Allan around 1887 and subjects of its photos – many of which Michael printed from glass plates – included Prime Ministers, actors and other personalities, many of which are held in prominent photographic collections.

Fellow photographer Jim McFarlane, a neighbour in Caulfield, remembers Michael’s teenage ingenuity: he built his own darkroom and an entire observatory, crafting both the telescope and the dome to house it. Andrew Chapman, a friend since high school, remained a constant and lifelong presence in Michael’s life.

Michael worked in newspapers both in Victoria and Western Australia from the 1970s to the 1990s, during which time he freelanced for all of the Fleet Street national newspapers 1983-85.

After returning home to Melbourne in 1985, he won 'Press Photographer of the Year, Special Merit and News' the following year, being on staff at the Sun newspaper. After the fall of the Berlin Wall he documented the plight of the Jews leaving Russia.

Commercial career and Photonet

After leaving press work, he had a long commercial photography career spanning politics, business, industry, education, and several charities.

Michael started his commercial photography business, Photonet, in 1985 in High Street Road St Kilda, then Wellington Street Saint Kilda before settling on George Street Fitzroy with photographers Ponch Hawkes and David Johns.

After that he moved to a home studio in Newport where he apprenticed photographer Peter Casamento, now a well established Melbourne photographer himself, who remembers: “Michael was kind, always generous with sharing his knowledge, an enthusiastic early adopter of new technology, and a very talented photographer. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot, including how to see from multiple perspectives, tell stories with a camera, and translate abstract ideas into concrete visuals. For this and much more, I remain deeply appreciative of everything Michael gave.

“I also admired his desire to bring people together and create a community at MAGNET Galleries. Whenever I attended, I appreciated the spirit of what he, Susanne and Daniel created. My last interaction with him was especially moving, something I will always remember.”

Among the most sustained of his institutional relationships was with the University of Melbourne. Photonet – Michael Silver Photography is registered as an organisation in the University of Melbourne Archives, reflecting years of work as a contracted photographer for the University. Other corporate clients included numerous Government Departments, automotive and engineering concerns, health groups and his charity work include producing calendars for The Blind Dogs Association each year – featuring adorable Labrador puppies.

Master Printer

Michael was acknowledged as a master printer. His son Daniel Silver joined the business, and together they supported photographers and artists for more than 40 years, and Daniel's fine art printing work – including work in high-quality archiving – produced numerous photographic exhibitions for Australian photographers and artists, with some now part of the State Library of Victoria's collection.

Embracing colour when it was in higher demand Michael purchased a Jobo film processing unit so as to be able to develop colour transparency film at any hour of the day. He predicted the advent of digital photography and was ready for it, at first buying a digital scanner and later the earliest model digital cameras, immediately using them commercially. He was not afraid to embrace new technology and adapted quickly, yet was also fond of building a significant collection of vintage gear.

From New North Gallery to MAGNET

Michael started New North Gallery in about 2010 with fellow Photographer David Johns until Johns’ departure when it was renamed Photonet Gallery, a photographic gallery and fine art printing business in Fairfield, Victoria.

The operation later relocated, first to Level 2 in the 2015 redevelopment of 640 Bourke Street near Southern Cross Station, where it was renamed MAGNET, before moving to Docklands in 2017, in the Docklands Arts Collective, an initiative of Renew Australia. It later converted to an ongoing lease agreement with the property owner, its address being SC G19 Wharf Street, Docklands.

MAGNET (MAGNET Galleries Melbourne Inc.) declares its mission to preserve and celebrate the best of Australian photography and encourage excellence among established and emerging photographers.

MAGNET exists to further the practice and appreciation of photography, particularly documentary work, and to support photographers and students in their practice. Gallery 1 houses Photonet Fine Art Printing, while the larger Gallery 2 serves as the main event space and both areas are clean ‘white cube’ exhibition venues lit artificially and through full-length windows from the mall.

Art historian Gael Newton in 2024 write that “Magnet Galleries is a great not for profit space run on next to nothing by those passionate about the social and aesthetic role of the medium.”

The permanent collection

MAGNET's collection includes the Neil McLeod Collection (over 20,000 images of Indigenous life over the last 50 years), the Albert Brown collection of the 1950s and 1960s (including Lake Tyers Mission), and rare historical glass plate negatives and stereo slides, including a Gallipoli series by Sir Charles Snodgrass Ryan.

Significant exhibitions

Several exhibitions stand out in MAGNET's record:

Networks and connections

As a senior photographer, Silver was involved in mentoring students and emerging photographers and was also sought after as a judge in photographic competitions. MAGNET sought to forge links with educational institutions, and the gallery's sustained engagement with Prahran College alumni.

Silver's own work, and MAGNET's programming, maintained a consistent orientation toward documentary and socially engaged photography rather than purely gallery-oriented art. The Gallery also hosted a significant women’s photography exhibition every year.

Michael’s charitable photography work took him regularly to Europe, South-East Asia and the USA, and he photographed for the Emergency Medicine Foundation. He was also associated with Manning Clark House in Canberra, where a fine art photography exhibition of his work opened in December 2012.

Silver leaves his wife Susanne, his son Daniel, as the driving force of the gallery along with a dedicated community that gathered around them over four decades.

You can visit the MAGNET Gallery website here.