For those of you in Sydney Australia, the 2018 Head On Photography Festival kicks off this Friday Night and runs through to 20th of May. The festival hub has moved from its former home beneath the Sydney Town Hall to its new home at Paddington Town Hall, but there are festival locations stretching throughout the city. The festival features exhibitions, workshops, talks and pop-up events spanning the range of photography genres, including documentary, photojournalism, portraiture and travel - even mobile photography gets its own category in the festival - a sign of the times!!
There are 1064 artists, 147 exhibitions, across 98 locations and galleries across Sydney - so how do you know where to go for the best street and documentary related goodness? Read on - I've done the hard work for you:
- Aussie Street- Showcasing contemporary Australian street photographers and not to be missed. Follow on instagram at @aussie_street
- A 2-day street photography workshop with local photographers Sam Ferris (@ferriswhiskey) and Greg Marsden (@hohum), who will take you through hands-on shooting sessions, editing, sequencing and creating projects from your work.
- The Head On Portrait Prize at the festival hub in Paddington Town Hall (249 Oxford St, Paddington) is a must see every year.
- American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Times at the State Library takes a fascinating look into the photo-journalistic style of the late 50’s and early 60’s.
- A candid look at the lives of 1970’s rock gods Eric Clapton and George Harrison through the eyes of then fashion photographer Pattie Boyd might be a winner. Although Boyd was a fashion photographer, these images appear to be candid “day in the life of” documentary images. By the way, Pattie Boyd was married to both Clapton and Harrison at one stage or another, throughout the period the photographs were taken!
- Jon Lewis Classics. Jon Lewis, co-founder of Greenpeace Australia and now an iconic Australian photographer, walks the streets of Sydney every day capturing portraits of everyday folks and everyday life. For me personally, this exhibition is not to be missed.
So there you go, for street and documentary photography fans, there are a whole range of attractions - head on over (see what I did there?) to www.headon.com.au, and plan your itinerary. Or, if you are just around town for the next couple of weeks, be sure to pop in to one of these exhibitions and support the artists.
Of course, if you have any tips, or think I have missed something worth seeing, be sure to drop a note in the comments so that we don’t miss out!