From its invention in the nineteenth century to its digital ubiquity today, photography has always had innovation, technical skill and experimentation at its core. Photography is a powerful medium and visual language that shapes the ways we see, understand and remember the world around us.
This introductory three-week course provides a foundational understanding of photography history.
Developed and facilitated by RMIT University’s Professor Daniel Palmer with the NGV, the course enables a close study of significant works in the NGV Collection of photography – Australia’s first art museum to introduce a dedicated photography collection in 1967 – to consider and analyse the history of, and key people, contexts and moments, in photography. The course will introduce participants to key artists including Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, Max Dupain, Olive Cotton, Nan Goldin, Tracey Moffatt, and Jeff Wall, among others.
In completing this course, participants will be equipped with skills to understand, analyse and discuss Australian and international photography. The course is ideal for photography enthusiasts or anyone looking to expand or deepen their art history knowledge, with a focus on the powerful and varied medium of photography.
Daniel Palmer is a Professor in the School of Art at RMIT University where he leads the Art History and Theory program. A former curator at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Palmer, has taught the history and theory of photography for over twenty years at the University of Melbourne, Photography Studies College, Monash University and RMIT University. Well known in Australia and internationally for his writings on photography, Palmer’s books include Installation View: Photography Exhibitions in Australia 1848–2020 (Perimeter Editions 2021) with Martyn Jolly; Photography and Collaboration: From Conceptual Art to Crowdsourcing (Bloomsbury 2017); The Culture of Photography in Public Space (Intellect 2015), edited with Anne Marsh and Melissa Miles; and Twelve Australian Photo Artists (Piper Press, 2009), co-authored with Blair French. The recipient of multiple awards and grants, his scholarly writings on photography and contemporary art have appeared in journals such as Photographies, Philosophy of Photography, History of Photography and Photography and Culture.
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand key moments, movements, and critical debates in the history of photography
- Learn and apply foundational concepts from photographic theory to the interpretation of images
- Critically explore and consider contemporary debates around photography in digital and networked culture
Week One: Conception, Experimentation and Colonialism: 1839–1890s
The course begins with the public announcement of photography in 1839, when Louis Daguerre introduced the daguerreotype in Paris and William Henry Fox Talbot unveiled his experiments in London. From this dual origin, we trace the rapid expansion of the medium across the nineteenth century as photography emerged simultaneously as a scientific innovation, commercial enterprise, and cultural form.
Week Two: Pictorialism, Modernism and the Documentary Tradition 1900–1970s
In session two, we will introduce the international Pictorialist movement before turning to photographic modernism as a constellation of aesthetic, technical, and cultural experiments that reshaped the medium in the early twentieth century across Europe, the United States, and Australia.
Week Three: Photography in Contemporary Art
In our final session, we will explores the expanded field of photography in art since the late 1960s, tracing how artists have redefined the medium in relation to conceptualism, performance, postmodernism, and, more recently, digital practices. Beginning with the use of photography as a documentary trace within conceptual art, we examine how artists have challenged the medium’s claims to truth and originality, foregrounding issues of authorship, appropriation and seriality.
Each week will include illustrated presentations by the course facilitator, Daniel Palmer, plus informal talks and conversations with a weekly guest speaker to further unpack that week’s topic. Sessions will be held in person in the Clemenger BBDO Auditorium at NGV International.
Participants will also receive a resource pack ahead of the first session. The pack will include a course overview, a list of key artworks, a recommended reading list and self-guided activities to deepen engagement with the themes explored.
The course will take place on Saturday mornings on 11 April, 18 April and 2 May.
Sessions will run from 10.30am–1.30pm and will be held onsite at NGV International in the Clemenger BBDO Auditorium.
$400 Members / $450 Adult / $425 Concession, Student & Educator
+ $5.50 Booking Fee
Enrol in more than one course to receive a 10% discount.
NGV Members, educators and students receive discounted enrolment to all NGV Art School courses.
Your course enrolment includes access to three in-person sessions at NGV International on 11 April, 18 April and 2 May plus a resource pack featuring a list of key artworks, a recommended reading list and self-guided activities to support your learning.
You will also receive a ticket to see the Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light exhibition in your own time, on display at NGV International until 3 May 2026.
Information for Teachers & Educators
A History of Photography Through the NGV Collection offers an inspiring and creative professional learning opportunity for teachers of all levels and subjects. This course meets the following AITSL standards:
- Know the content and how to teach it (2.1)
- Engage in professional learning (6.1)
- Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community (7.4)
A certificate of professional learning is available on request.
This course is part of NGV Art School – your one-stop resource for inspiration, creative skill-building and immersion in art and art history. Join us for in-Gallery and online courses, practical artist-led classes, and tailored learning experiences led by curators and specialist educators.