If you walked into the National Gallery of Australia expecting a Christmas-themed photography exhibition conveying an idyllic, warm-fuzzy take on one of the world's favourite holidays – Trent Parke’s The Christmas Tree Bucket will abruptly correct you.
In this collection display, Australia’s only Magnum photographer turns his lens on that most chaotic of national rituals: the suburban family Christmas.
The result is a masterclass in the ‘Australian Gothic’ – a visual narrative that is equal parts humorous, outlandish, absurd, and at times – affectionate. One can easily draw parallels to the work of Martin Parr (actually one of Parke's buddies) in terms of the saturated colours and humour.
The exhibition’s title stems from Trent returning home 'under the weather' at Christmas and proceeding to throw up into a bucket he found in the laundry. When his mother-in-law cried out, “Don’t use that one! It’s the Christmas tree bucket,” Trent – forever thinking photographically – asked his wife, Narelle Autio (an equally talented, award-winning photographer), to get the camera to capture him lying prostrate next to said bucket.
The Suburban Gothic aesthetic
Parke is renowned for his high-contrast black-and-white work in Minutes to Midnight, where the Australian outback and cities felt otherworldly if not sometimes apocalyptic.
Here, working in colour, he brings that same intensity to the domestic sphere. The NGA has curated a selection that feels visually challenging in the best way possible.
While the Northern Hemisphere celebrates a traditional snow covered Christmas, Parke uses his signature harsh flash to illuminate the sweat, grime, and the absurdity of the festive season in the heat of an Australian summer.
This high-contrast lighting transforms a series of familiar Christmastime scenes – a Kubrickian, one-point perspective of Santa standing at the end of a creepy hallway; children squabbling in a bedroom; a skeletal, defoliated Xmas tree; and an uncle in a hot-dog suit tending the BBQ – into something theatrical and profoundly surreal.
The oversaturated images perfectly evoke Christmas product kitschiness, as well as that feeling of overeating, and that sticky heat exhaustion that accompanies one of the biggest extended family events in the 'burbs.
Themes: Ritual and Absurdity
The exhibition – shot in the 2000's primarily in Adelaide – succeeds because it refuses to romanticise.
One of Parke’s greatest strengths is his ability to find moments in the mundane and document absurdity. Whether or not these are candid or contrived – these photos of his family are very fly-on-the-wall documentary.
While family photos are common, this collection transcends the personal photo album to become a profound commentary on national identity. Our modern Australian identity feels increasingly removed from the 'shrimp on the barbie' larrikinism epitomised by Paul Hogan in the 1980s, yet these images still retain a definitive sense of healthy, Australian irreverence.
Accompanying this feeling is the sense of humour that is characteristically Australian – slightly deadpan with a hint of irony and twist of sarcasm. It is the gritty, grounded antithesis of a Slim Aarons series – where Aarons sought out stylised wealth, Parke finds his gold in the unvarnished reality of the everyday middle class.
The Verdict
The Christmas Tree Bucket is a confronting but undeniable triumph. It is heartening to see the NGA championing work that examines Australian culture with such an unblinking eye.
Parke manages to walk a tightrope between mockery and love. You laugh at the absurdity of the plastic decorations and the forced joviality, but you also recognise the deep, messy bonds of family that underpin the chaos.
With 61 works on display, there is a significant amount to take in; however, Anne O'Hehir and the NGA team have infused the exhibition with a sense of flow and playfulness. This is achieved through bold 'Christmas red' walls, unconventional hanging heights, and vitrines showcasing Parke’s supplementary material and various media formats.
For anyone who has ever survived a sweltering Christmas Day in the suburbs, this exhibition will feel like a fever dream of a memory – vivid, slightly overwhelming, and impossible to look away from.
The exhibition runs until 6 September 2026 at the National Gallery of Australia.
You can see more of Trent Parke's work on the Magnum website.
Further reading: an interview with the NGA Photographic Curator Anne O'Hehir.
