Australia’s self-proclaimed ‘biggest photography biennale’ is set to return to Melbourne and regional Victoria in April.
The 2022 PHOTO International Photography Festival will open on April 29 and run until May 22. The festival program features 123 local and international artists and photographers, celebrated through 90 exhibitions, including 24 projects specially commissioned for the 2022 festival.
Now in its second edition, the festival was first created to bring a global celebration of photography, art and ideas to Australian audiences. The theme for PHOTO 2022 is ‘Being Human’, and this year’s festival will see a number of large-scale outdoor installations on display across Melbourne, as well as a series of gallery events, exhibitions and programs educational materials exploring the concept of the human condition with reference to ideas about society, self, mortality, nature and history.
With exploration as the key idea behind the festival program, PHOTO 2022 events and venues are spread across five festival districts, namely: City Hall District, Parliament District, from the river, the State Library area and Fitzroy/Collingwood. There are also a number of additional venues in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria taking part in this year’s photo biennial.
As part of this year’s festival, PHOTO 2022 will showcase the works of two photography icons: Helmut Newton and Cindy Sherman.
Newton, one of the world’s foremost fashion photographers, will be celebrated in an exhibition titled HELMUT NEWTOWN: in brief presented by the Jewish Museum of Australia in partnership with the Helmut Newtown Foundation.
The work of American artist Cindy Sherman will be showcased with a large-scale artwork that will be installed on the facade of a building in Fed Square.
Other festival highlights include: Atong Atem’s Surat, a tribute to family photos and the characters that make up a family; Christian Thompson AO human being human being, a showcase of its new Flower Wall series paired with an immersive soundscape in the courtyard of the Old Melbourne Gaol; and Vasantha Yogananthan after life, an exploration of the journey to the afterlife via the Dussehra festival in India.
PHOTO 2022 has free admission, excluding the HELMUT NEWTOWN: in brief exposure. The flagship conference program PHOTO Live and Photobook Weekend are also free. Tours of the grounds and festival cycle will cost you $10.
To learn more about tickets and see the full program, you can visit the PHOTO 2022 website here.