Where the sidewalk ends by Juli Balla

Juli Balla’s latest exhibition, Where the sidewalk ends, features 22 works based on street photography from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The images evoke the mood of a film still with emotionally charged characters in discreet storylines. The authentic vintage wardrobe to represent each era was arranged by stylist Janai Anselmi, adding a cohesive visual narrative to the series.

© Juli Balla
© Juli Balla

Locations around Sydney were meticulously selected to give the images exactly the look and feel that Balla was seeking to portray. Influenced by film stills of a bygone era, Balla worked with a colour palette reminiscent of feature films shot in Technicolor. “The aim of each photograph is to leave you with more questions asked than answered,” Balla says. “As in a film still, the images evoke a feeling of suspended animation, while one tries to decipher what has just happened or is about to happen.”

© Juli Balla
© Juli Balla

The work

Each image is 133 x 88.5cm, available in an edition of five, and printed on archival rag art paper. View the current Juli Balla catalogue here, and keep an eye out for the new works to be added.

© Juli Balla
© Juli Balla

About Juli Balla

Juli Balla’s photography career spans over two decades. She is represented in private and public collections, was the winner of the International Polaroid competition NY 2005, as well as numerous international photography awards for fashion photography. Her work has been published in most international fashion titles, including Vogue GB, Vogue Australia, Elle GB, France, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair Italy, Grazia Italia. Juli Balla is represented by The Kitchen Creative Management.

© Juli Balla
© Juli Balla

 

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

July

Sydney: Until 16 August 2026. PIX, Australia’s first pictorial news weekly, is brought to life in this exhibition, showcasing its archived images and stories for the very first time.

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.

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.

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.

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.

April

Sydney: 15 April – 9 May 2026. An exhibition of fine art photography celebrating the intersection of maritime history and the human form.