Head On Photo Festival 2023 is a 22-day event across Sydney, Australia. Featuring over 110 exhibitions, 700 artists, and a variety of talks and events.
Every year Head On Photo Festival is a fantastic opportunity to see the work of emerging and established photographers from Australia and worldwide. It’s also a chance to learn more about the art of photography and meet other photography enthusiasts.
Key dates:
10 Nov: Festival launch party
11 Nov: Head On conversations
26 Nov: Last day of exhibitions at The Muse, TAFE NSW, Ultimo
3 Dec: Last day of exhibitions at Bondi Beach
3 Dec: Last day of exhibitions at Paddington Reservoir Gardens
The 2023 festival is supported by Create NSW, Waverley Council, TAFE NSW Ultimo, local and international governments, local small businesses and the private sector.
Select featured EXHIBITIONS
View all exhibitions and events
me myself and i
In the ongoing series, me myself and i, Postma remakes found vintage photographs into assemblages of new faces, creating portraits of people whose identities are not bound by stereotypes of gender, age or colour. By re-photographing the collaged po…
The Lonka Project
When Holocaust survivor Dr Eleonora ‘Lonka’ Nass died, her daughter Rina realised she knew very little of her mother’s experience of the Nazi concentration camps. In 2019, Rina and her husband, Jim Hollander, decided to launch this project to documen…
The life of birds
This project was inspired by the work of 19th-century natural history illustrators such as John Gould, Edward Lear, and Friedrich Specht. Their illustrations were beautiful compositions designed to describe to the viewer what these strange worlds m…
Moldova provides sanctuary for Ukrainians displaced by war
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, over half a million refugees have fled into Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest nations. Due to shared language and proximity to Ukraine, 100,000 chose to remain. Despite the hardships, Moldovans h…
Featured exhibitors
Alain Schroeder, Aleš Jungmann, Ali MC, Anne-Marie Michel, Antonio Denti, Arrayah Loynd, Barbara Peacock, Bonnita Postma, Brent Lewin, Chloe Sharrock, Christian Fuchs, Craig Parry, Daisy Noyes, Damien Drew, Darcy Padilla, David Arribas, Diego Fedele, Emmanuel Angelicas, Flavia Leuenberger Ceppi, Flavio Brancaleone, Gary Ramage, Graham Cordery, Jamie Wdziekonski, Jena Love, Jenna Mulhall-Brereton, Joel Pratley, John Tsiavis & Victoria Villasana, Karabo Mooki, Kristin Van den Eede, Lisandro Suriel, Margaret Dean, Matthew Newton, Matthew Renew, Mauro Antonio Barreto, Mauro Curti, Melanie Muddle & Hannah Robinson, Mitchell Moreno, Nick Bourdanioti, Paula Bronstein, Pierpaolo Mittica, Rebecca Moseman, Sarah Mei Herman, Seb Agnew, Shane Hulbert, Toma Gerzha, Tristan Still, Yzza Slaoui
Group exhibitions
Head On Environmental Awards by Australian Geographic, Head On Landscape Awards, Head On Portrait Awards, Head On Student Awards, Head On Photo Awards semi finalists, AddOn, Australia + Fashion Photography , Ocean Photographer of the Year 2023, Paper Tigers, Photography at the Italian Cultural Institute, Work, The Lonka Project
Open exhibitors
Solo exhibitors
Alessandro Bianchetti, Andy Baker, Ari Salomon, Carol Muller, Fiona Bowring, Fiona Ferguson, Flavia Piola, Gavin Libotte, Glenn Lockitch, Jack McLain, Janet Tavener, Jennifer Dean, Jennifer Forward-Hayter, Julijana Griffiths, Klaus Major, Lara Gilks, Luciano Vranich, Marco Serventi, Miguel Aguilar, Pip Farquharson, Tony Maniaty, Zarni Kuniead Tun
Group exhibitions
Online exhibitors
Alli Harper, Andrew Wilson, Andy Tsang, Annette LeMay Burke, Carrie Jones, Celia Ruiz de Castilla, Christopher Allery, Chrystal De Louise, Deborah Pelser, Debra Livingston, Filip Konikowski, Fiona Birt, Francesca Menghini, Francis Minien, Francoise Holtzmacher, Giuseppe Cardoni, Grace Chon, Ilan Wittenberg, Inge Flinte, Jake Weisz, John Dobson, Kalyanii Holden, Katri Lassila, Kyle Hoffmann, Matt Bagley, Matt Davis, Nancy Sluga, Nicolas Hermann, Parvathi Kumar, Paul Taylor, Robyne Hayes, Ryley Clarke, Sarah Ducker, Sean Okkai, Streetmax 21, Uma Manasseh, Ziliang Guo
Virtual tour of Head On Photo Festival 2023
Explore some of our major festival venues part of Head On Photo Festival 2023.
Venues
Bondi Beach
Lining the entire length of Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, stunning photography exhibitions showcase work that explores the natural and built environment and topical social and political issues.
30 Exhibitions
Bondi Pavilion
Located in the iconic newly-renovated heritage-listed Bondi Pavilion Building, Bondi Pavilion Gallery is a creative hub placed on the foreshore of contemporary Australian Culture.
3 Exhibitions
Paddington Reservoir Gardens
Head On Photo Festival returns to Paddington Reservoir Gardens, transforming it into a photographic hub in tranquil surrounds.
7 Exhibitions
The Muse, TAFE Ultimo
Also known less poetically as “Building C”, this Romanesque Revival styled exhibition building was opened in 1893 as a museum. It housed the surviving collection from a fire that destroyed a science museum, so becoming the official Technological Museum prior to Powerhouse Museum opening. The detailed, three-storey facade features arched windows, coloured bricks, reliefs, and intricate carvings depicting Australian fauna and flora.
11 Exhibitions
Delmar Gallery
Established in 1969 as part of Trinity Grammar School’s Society of the Arts, Delmar Gallery presents an annual program of curated exhibitions featuring local and international artists. The gallery is open to the public with free admission to all exhibitions.
3 Exhibitions
Head On Conversations
View all exhibitions and events
Head On Conversation: Are you talking for me?
As a photographer, how do you ensure the story you tell is the subject’s point of view? Is the story that the photographer is trying to project or the issues? Is it the photographer’s story or the story of the subject? This Head On Conversation will discuss how to choose topics, places and pictorial conversations and ensure they represent the voice of the subject.
Head On Conversation: Bystander or Upstander
How do you ensure your images bear witness to history, serve as catalysts for change and observe a place in time? Are you a witness or an agent of change? Do causes such as environmentalism and war photography suffer because of the ubiquity of images around these topics? This Head On Conversation will discuss the role of effective witness in the changing the world.
Head On Conversation: It’s Mine
How do you build and consider your personal style? How do you project/communicate it to the world? This conversation will help you understand how do you define and capture your personal style, and how to capture it in others?
Explore the festival
Enthralling. Enchanting. Extraordinary. Discover exceptional photography for free around Sydney during the festival 8 Nov–1 Dec 2024