The Prahran Legacy: Beyond the Basement

Ilana Rose
Abuk, Refugee, South Sudan 2015
Ilana Rose Abuk, Refugee, South Sudan 2015

An exhibition of the mature and recent work of photographer / artists who trained at the ground-breaking Prahran CAE, Melbourne in the 1970s and 80s.

Under celebrated mentors Athol Shmith, John Cato and Paul Cox they developed a creative approach to photography that has not died. They are still pushing boundaries; still passionately pursuing photography careers.

This complements the MAPh exhibition, "The Basement: Photography from Prahran College (1968 - 1981) at Museum of Australian Photography.

  • Organised by: The Prahran Legacy Project
  • Contact name: Merle Hathaway
  • Phone: 0419324042
  • Email: merlehathaway@icloud.com

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

February

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.

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.

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.

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

March

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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