Michael Reid Gallery – Trent Parke Species & Masters of Australian Photography

Masters of Australian Photography

In January, Michael Reid Sydney will exhibit 20 significant Australian photographs – across two folios of ten masterworks each – bringing together iconic artworks by Australia’s most celebrated 20th-century photographers, spanning six decades of cultural and artistic evolution.

These two master suites of ten photographs each capture the nation’s diverse creative vision and much of our core photographic history. From Olive Cotton’s elegant Teacup Ballet to Mervyn Bishop’s powerful portrayal of Indigenous land rights and Greg Weight’s portrait of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, these images reflect Australia’s ever-changing social and environmental narrative.

Showcasing masterful storytelling and enduring legacies, the two folios are cornerstones of Australian photography.

Trent Parke’s Species

Michael Reid Sydney will commence the calendar year with a presentation of Trent Parke’s Species series. Species made its Australian debut with a selection of photographs at Sydney Contemporary 2024. In January, we will present a more comprehensive collection draw from this technically astounding photographic series.

Photographs from Species have already garnered international acclaim after being shown at Milan Design Week in a touring exhibition specially commissioned by Magnum Photos and Veuve Clicquot. A centrepiece of the series was selected for Australia’s most prestigious photo-based media award, the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize.

Captured through an extraordinary feat of endurance and technical wizardry, Species is a thrilling synthesis of Parke’s exceptional skill and aesthetic sensibilities. “Shooting directly into the sun, with what could be considered a telescope, is a challenge in itself,” says the artist, who lensed his subjects from a distance of 700 metres. “It was 1/2000th of a second, but three months in the making.”

Parke sees Species as a meeting of two “symbols of universal energy” – the sun and the ocean melting together in a sumptuous pool of colour.