Queer PHOTO 2024

Featuring 17 artists, 14 exhibitions, 30 interactive events, and 7 locations, the Festival of Queer Photography is a multi-pronged program transforming iconic venues and the streets of the West into a gallery of visual artworks from LGBTQIA+ artists.

Overview

Presented by Midsumma and PHOTO 2024, in partnership with Creative Victoria’s Go West program, Queer PHOTO is a first-of-its-kind collaboration comprising artist commissions of large-scale​ outdoor artworks curated by Brendan McCleary, gallery exhibitions, and an interactive​ public performance program by local and international artists taking place in Footscray, Newport and Werribee across both Midsumma Festival and​ PHOTO 2024 International Festival of Photography. 

Among the highlights is the exhibition Surfacing, which presents new and experimental photographic work and related writing from emerging artists Luce Nguyễn-Hunt, Rômy Pacquing McCoy, Dorcas Tang, and Estelle Yoon. Sunil Gupta will present the work 'The New Pre-Raphaelites', a series portraying individuals and families affected by Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised homosexuality. Other exhibitions include projects by Vic Bakin, Karla Dickens, and The Zizi Project, which explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drag performance.

Workshops spanning from photobooks, to queer history and street photography will bring to the festival artists such as Estelle Yoon, Luce Nguyễn-Hunt, Matto Lucas, Isabella Capezio, Peter Waples-Crowe and Aurelia St Clair.

Film screenings, panels and talks with Clifford Prince King, Kira Piru, Jacinta Keefe, Daniel Jack Lyons, Lilah Benetti, Australian Queer Archives, Derik Lynch and Matthew Thorne round off the two-months programme.