Could these Australian photographers be the next big thing?

Posted on 16 January, 2025

Ever wished you’d been a fan of Banksy before he became famous? Or seen Carol Jerrem’s photos before she became an icon of the Australian photography scene?

Now’s your chance to catch photo access’ annual exhibition spotlighting emerging regional artists who may be the future leaders of Australian photo media practice.

VIEW2025 spans analogue and digital photography, video, and animation showcasing themes of belonging and place-making in a time of flux and cultural transitions.

Five artists will have their work on display, each exploring themes they believe to be highly relevant to them.

Cailyn Forrest’s work transforms the act of photography in a bodily ritual, while Adam Hsieh’s piece juxtaposes wide-angle views of Hobart’s kunanyi/Mount Wellington with intimate Grindr encounters.

Meanwhile Fiona Lee’s creation confronts ecological loss and political inertia, informed by her displacement during the 2019-2020 bushfires, and Aia Solis merges past memories and present realities.

Finally, Emma Lyn Winkler’s art fuses painting, photography and animation into textured narratives infused with humour and existential absurdity.

While each work carries its own themes and discussions, there’s an underlying link of the photography surfacing as a distinct yet malleable practice each artist can use to illuminate something in our present moment.

With experts forever on a search to find the next Platon, wouldn’t you like to be able to say you saw works by Forrest, Hsieh, Lee, Solis and Winkler before they became famous?

Feature image: Adam Hsieh, ‘I didn’t come here for love’, 2023, three-channel digital video