Monument by Trent Parke

For the festival Trent Parke will present the European premiere of his latest work, Monument, which draws together images produced over a 25 year period. Monument stands as an elegy to time, to the late light of Sydney streets, the movement of people and the circling of moths as night falls. 

Trent Parke is known for his impressionistic, long-form work that explores themes of identity, place and community, often working in rural Australia. Parke began his career in photojournalism, becoming the first Australian member of Magnum Photos in 2007. He has won 3 World Press Photo Awards, alongside the W. Eugene Smith grant for humanistic photography. His work has been exhibited widely and is held by all major national galleries in Australia. 

About Trent Parke:

Trent Parke was born in 1971 and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. Using his mother’s Pentax Spotmatic and the family laundry as a darkroom, he began taking pictures when he was around 12 years old. He began his career as a press photojournalist and, in 2007, became the first Australian to become a full member of Magnum Photos.

Parke is one of the most innovative photographers of his generation. He is known for his poetic, often darkly humorous photography which offers an emotional and psychological portrait of his home country of Australia — from the southern outback to its busy beaches. Though rooted in documentary, his works sit between fiction and reality, exploring themes of identity, place and family life.

Parke’s work has been exhibited widely and is held in major institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Art Gallery of South Australia. In 2015, his solo exhibition The Black Rose premiered at the Art Gallery of South Australia, featuring photographs, lightboxes, video, written texts and books. Parke has also published seven monographs: Dream/Life (1999), The Seventh Wave with Narelle Autio (2000), Minutes to Midnight (2013), The Christmas Tree Bucket (2014), Crimson Line (2020), Cue the Sun (2022) and Monument (2023).

In collaboration:

Supported by: