Mervyn Bishop: Close Up

Mervyn Bishop is one of Australia's most important photographers.

His extraordinary archive of more than 200,000 images makes a landmark addition to the State Library of NSW’s collection. 

Mervyn Bishop: Close Up celebrates the historic moments and pivotal people he famously captured, while exploring the private influences that shaped his groundbreaking career. 

This intimate exhibition offers a rare glimpse of the man behind the lens and honours the enduring legacy of Australia’s first Aboriginal press photographer. 

About Mervyn

Born in Brewarrina in 1945, Mervyn Bishop fell in love with photography at a young age. At 17, he began a cadetship with the Sydney Morning Herald, where he won the Press Photographer of the Year award in 1971.

A few years later he famously photographed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam passing a fistful of dirt into Aboriginal Elder Vincent Lingiari’s hand. Mervyn’s body of work, which chronicles both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, has been in dozens of exhibitions over several decades.

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May

Melbourne: Until March 2027. Rehearsing the City presents archival photographs from Victoria’s government collections, alongside new work by contemporary street photographers.

August

Melbourne: Until 15 November 2026. This exhibition will present the most comprehensive survey of the work of the eminent Hungarian-born, French photographer Brassaï yet to be seen in Australia.

Sydney: 24 August 2026 – 18 July 2027. Featuring almost 200 images and original prints personally selected by Dupain for magazine and book publishers, the exhibition reveals the extraordinary breadth of his work.

September

Melbourne: Until 19 February 2027. Spanning 55 years from 1971, Chapman’s visual journey began aboard the ‘Green Bus’ from Elsternwick to Melbourne’s city centre – chronicling the evolution of Australian life along the way.

Melbourne: Multiple exhibitions including – Bowness Photography Prize 2026 + Sarah Rhodes | The Inner Sky. Both until 8 November 2026.

October

Perth: Until 31 January 2027. The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) presents No night is long enough for us to dream twice, a major exhibition of contemporary photography and video, bringing together more than 100 works by seven living artists and one artist duo from across South West Asia, North Africa and its many diasporas.

Sydney: 10 October – 14 November 2026. Metropolis: Street Photography 1985–2025 displays over four decades of life within the modern human environment. The work transitions from the tough, film-noir streets of 1980’s New York to the time surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall – to the modern colour saturated, hard-shadowed geometry of contemporary Australian streets.

Brisbane: Until 1 November 2026. The finalist exhibition of the 2026 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards brings together striking photographic works that capture the city’s spirit — from familiar streets and riverside scenes to the fleeting moments, routines and characters that make Brisbane feel like home.

Sydney: Until 31 October 2027. Explore five decades of extraordinary photography by one of Australia’s most important and influential photojournalists, Lorrie Graham.

November

Sydney: 6 to 29 November 2026. Head On Head On curated exhibitions at Bondi, Paddington Reservoir Gardens and various affiliated galleries for the month of November.