Head On Photo Festival returns to Sydney

The Head On Photo Festival, Australia’s international photography event, will take place across Sydney this November for its 16th edition.

The festival opens on 7 November with the announcement of the winners of the Head On Photo Awards, which carry a total prize pool of $80,000, including the new $5,000 Mayor of Waverley’s Prize for a single exhibition.

The festival features exhibitions and events across Sydney, including the Southern Hemisphere premiere of The Stringer, a documentary examining the Vietnam War photograph ‘Napalm Girl’ and the ethical questions around photojournalism.

Other highlights include Imperium by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Robinson Chávez, which documents life in Ukraine, and House of Hope by Dutch photographer and filmmaker Marjolein Busstra, following a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem and their Steiner school.

The Walkley Foundation marks its 70th anniversary with a retrospective of award-winning sports photography from 1998 to 2024.

The Head On Photo Awards exhibitions will display 110 images across Portrait, Landscape, and Exposure categories. The awards are among Australia’s largest photography prizes, with exhibitions across three main venues.

Along the Bondi Beach Promenade, the festival will feature Niccolò Rastrelli’s Cosplay Families, a portrait series on identity and fantasy, and Xianhui Fang’s People in Deep Mountains, a study of life in the Taihang Mountains.

At Bondi Pavilion, the festival will host the Head On Photobook & Zine Market, artist talks, and a presentation by William Yang reflecting on five decades of photography and social history.

Festival Director Moshe Rosenzveig OAM said the festival highlights photographers presenting new perspectives on the world.

The Head On Photo Festival runs until 30 November.

The program includes exhibitions, talks, panels, workshops, and a photobook and zine fair.

More information is available at headon.org.au/festival.