Powerhouse Photography
An ongoing series of programs, commissions, acquisitions, publications, learning and research activities dedicated to the promotion and development of photography in Australia.
Powerhouse Photography aims to amplify the profile of Australian photography and lens-based media through an ongoing series of programs, publications, learning and research activities. This initiative supports photographers through commissions, acquisitions, and national and international engagement opportunities.
Powerhouse Photography also presents an opportunity to revisit the Powerhouse’s extensive photographic collections through programs, commissions, research and digital engagement. Powerhouse Photography is supported by funds generously donated by the Australian Centre for Photography.
Initiatives
Right of Reply Photography Commission
A unique opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander photographers to undertake a photography commission that responds to the Powerhouse Collection.
Architectural Photography Commission
A unique opportunity for Australian photographers to undertake an architectural photography commission that aims to develop new perspectives on Australian architecture and the built environment.
Western Sydney Photography Commission
Developed in collaboration with Powerhouse as part of Powerhouse Photography, this collaborative project will focus on the relationship between people, built environment and public spaces of Western Sydney.
Community Initiatives
Powerhouse fosters innovation across the applied arts and sciences by facilitating collaboration and connection between industry and community.
Recent Commissions
Reanimating an Architect’s Spirit
Collection
Powerhouse is custodian to more than half a million objects of national and international significance. The Powerhouse Collection is considered one of the finest and most diverse collections in the world.
It includes the Powerhouse Archives comprised of hundreds of Collected Archives and the Powerhouse Institutional Archives, which date from 1880.
Selected Collection Archives
Tyrrell Collection
An internationally significant collection of over 7000 glass plate negatives, produced by the studios of Charles Kerry (1857–1928) and Henry King (1855–1923).
ViewMax Dupain Collection
Fashion, advertising and architectural photographs by Australian modernist photographer Max Dupain (1911–1992).
ViewEarly Photography Collection
Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, lantern slides, cartes-de-visite, photographic albums and postcards, from the 1840s to the early twentieth century.
ViewAstronomical Collection
Photographs produced and used by scientists at Sydney Observatory, spanning the late nineteenth century to the 1980s.
ViewBruno Benini Archive
Five decades of Australian and international fashion as seen through the lens of photographer Bruno Benini (1925–2001).
ViewRobert Rosen Archive
Portrait, street, fashion and celebrity photographs by Robert Rosen (b. 1953), covering three decades of life in Sydney.
ViewBayram Ali Collection
A unique lens on community and work on the NSW Snowy River Hydro Scheme in the 1950s and 1960s.
ViewHedda Morrison Collection
Studio, travel and documentary photographs made in China, present-day Malaysia, the South Pacific Islands, India, and Australia from 1933–1991.
ViewHenry Talbot Archive
The extensive archive of prominent German-Australian commercial and fashion photographer Henry Talbot (1920–1999).
ViewAustralian Centre for Photography Archive
The extensive archive of Australia’s most significant photography organisation, covering 100 years of photographic practice in Australia.
In progressCollection Digitisation Project
About
Powerhouse Photography is an annual program made possible through funds generously donated by the Australian Centre for Photography, dedicated to amplifying Australian photography and lens-based practice. It includes a photography research fellowship, tertiary internship program, contemporary photography acquisition program and an industry day.
The Powerhouse Photography Advisory Group was convened in October 2022 to focus on strengthening and expanding the museum’s connections to the photographic industry and community.
Powerhouse has developed a unique role for the Photography Advisory Group where its members may be commissioned to work on a range of creative and collaborative projects. These projects span commercial, artistic, and research endeavours. Along with this active role, the Advisory Group is called upon to provide current industry knowledge, insights and advice to guide curatorial strategies relating to Powerhouse Photography, in a non-executive capacity. Meetings of the Advisory Group are held three times a year to share information, generate ideas and discuss industry challenges and opportunities.
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