30 August to 16 November 2003
Macquarie Bank Contemporary Projects Gallery, and throughout Level 2
Admission Free

 

Second Sight: Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria

Second Sight: Australian Photography in the National Gallery of Victoria surveys the rich and diverse history of Australian photography. Ranging from Douglas Kilburn’s 1847 daguerreotypes to Pat Brassington’s digital images from 2001, this exhibition features the work of leading photographers and lesser-known practitioners in Australian photography. Comprising more than 100 key works, the exhibition reveals the remarkable breadth of the NGV’s Australian photography collection.

In keeping with the NGV’s commitment to showing Australian art in all its diversity, this exhibition is integrated throughout the Australian Galleries on Level 2. The exhibition is divided into eight sections, each installed at a chronologically appropriate point in the Australian hang. This innovative approach to the exhibition design provides an unprecedented opportunity to view the history of Australian photography within the context of Australian art. A dialogue is created which contributes to the discussion about the place of photography in the history of artistic and creative practice in Australia.

 

For more information about the Australian photography collection at the NGV, visit the NGV Shop for the publication Second Sight: Australian Photography Collection, by Isobel Crombie and Susan van Wyk.

This exquisitely designed book presents for the first time the major photographs from the Australian photography collection from 1847 to 2000.
 

The Contemporary Projects Gallery is generously supported by Macquarie Bank

 

Animation sequence (in order of appearance):

Harold CAZNEAUX
Australia 1878–1974
Razzle Dazzle 1910
gelatin silver photograph
29.0 x 25.2 cm
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the H.J.Heinz II Charitable and Family Trust, Governor, 1993
PH91-1993

David MOORE
born Australia 1927
Migrants arriving in Australia 1966, printed 1976
gelatin silver photograph
26.7 x 40.4 cm
Purchased, 1991
PH155-1991

Penelope DAVIS
born Australia 1963
Red 2 2000 (detail)
from the Penumbra (where shadow becomes light) series 2000
type C photograph
78.5 x 104.5 cm
Purchased with funds arranged by Loti Smorgon for Contemporary Australian Photography, 2000
2000.241