Submissions have now closed and all entrants have been notified (please check your spam if you haven't received an email from us). The exhibition will be announced in late January 2021.
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Call out for street photography
Each year we are pleased to present regular photography exhibitions at the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery that showcase images from the State’s archival collection alongside photographs submitted by street photographers on a chosen theme. Our gallery doors may be shut, but the show goes on!
As we adjust to a new normal, Victorians are already recording the moments of 2020 that will become the historic records of the future. Their photographs are capturing the hardship, the hope and the creative ways people have found to adapt to this unprecedented situation. They’re documenting the small but significant actions that Victorians are taking, which not only keep our communities safe, but also help with the coronavirus (COVID-19) response on a global scale.
The Victorian Archives Centre Gallery is seeking contemporary street photography from across Victoria for our upcoming exhibition A new normal to be launched in late January 2021. In keeping with the new ways we’re discovering to create and share online, A new normal will take place on both the Public Record Office Victoria and Google Arts and Culture websites.
The 10 chosen photographs also have the opportunity to become part of the State Archives' permanent collection. (If you'd like to find out more about how records are chosen for the permanent collection, watch this video: prov.vic.gov.au/what-do-we-archive-and-why)
A new normal will feature photographs from the collections of Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia. The photos will reflect on situations where Victoria has had to adjust to major change or disruption in the past. These images will be exhibited alongside photographs representing Victoria today, submitted by you!
We are looking for photographs taken in Victoria during 2020 that offer a unique interpretation of A new normal, the kind of images that will provide insight for generations to come about what it was like to live through this pandemic. Send us the photographs you’ve already shot, or take your camera with you on your daily walk. Just be sure that you follow current public health advice, including wearing a face mask and maintaining a physical distance of 1.5 metres between yourself and others at all times. To keep up to date with the latest restrictions, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Guidelines:
- Submissions are only accepted by filling in the entry form.
- Submissions close 5pm, Monday 23 November 2020.
- Up to 3 images can be submitted per person.
- All images must be taken in 2020, within the state of Victoria, Australia.
- All images should interpret the theme A new normal and be street photography (not posed or studio photography). To honour the tradition of archival and street photography, we are looking for unmanipulated work, which remains true to the original image.
- A title, location and artist statement are required for every photograph submitted.
- Your image must be online and available for us to view without a password. Before sending us the link please ensure that it can be viewed without needing to log in to an application or enter a password. The link must go directly to a single image. If you'd like to keep your work private, we recommend uploading to Google Drive or Dropbox, both of which are free to set up. If using Google Drive, please ensure that the sharing link is set to "
- Entrants will be notified of the outcome on Friday 11 December 2020 and selected photographers will have one week to send us their high-resolution files for exhibition (ideally 2500 pixels on the shortest side of the image).
- Image rights remain with the photographer, VAC Gallery asks permission for use of images for publicity purposes only.
- This is not a commercial gallery and there are no exhibition fees paid to photographers, however, as with all our VAC Gallery exhibitions, we can provide finalists with a large format exhibition-quality print of their work. These will be posted out during January/February.
- For any questions, email media@prov.vic.gov.au with the subject line ‘VAC Gallery’.