Talking Photography

Join a conversation about the recent history of photography as an artistic medium and its future potential with curator and writer MAMA CEO Blair French.

Over three evenings, take a close look at works by photographic artists from across Australia featured in MAMA’s Season of Photography, including the 2026 National Photography Prize, filtered by introductions to photography history and criticism.

What to expect
In each session, Blair French will introduce topics framed by the work of key writers and artists, then participants are encouraged to join in conversation in front of selected artworks. Whether you are a lover of art, a photographer looking for inspiration, or just someone interested to learn more about contemporary photographic artists and their practice, these conversations are for you.

Picturing place
Thursday 13 August 2026
5.30pm – 6.30pm

Learn about photography’s relationship to place and site, moving from depictions of landscapes to evolving acts of intervention to represent place as culturally and historically significant.

Photo sequences
Thursday 17 September 2026
5.30pm – 6.30pm

Drawing on histories of the photographic essay and conceptual art, explore how artists utilise series and sequences of images to construct narratives with accompanying text to amplify photographic subject matter.

Technologies of image-making
Thursday 1 October 2026
5.30pm – 6.30pm

The visual languages of photography are as numerous and diverse as there are new image-making technologies produced across the world. Consider how artists use specific technologies to inform how images are created, experienced and understood.

Blair French

MAMA CEO Blair French has written extensively on both Australian and international photographic practices. His books include Out of Time: Essays Between Art and Photography (2006), Twelve Australian Photo-Artists (2008, co-authored with Daniel Palmer) and as editor, Photo Files: An Australian Photography Reader (1999).