2014 past exhibitions
2014
Don McCullin: The Impossible Peace
- Open:
- 27 September 2014 – 26 October 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
From War Photographs to Landscapes, 1958–2011
Over five decades, legendary photojournalist Don McCullin has captured some of the most remarkable photographic images of the twentieth century. His impact on photography will be showcased in the exhibition Don McCullin: The Impossible Peace, featuring more than 150 photographs.
McCullin is best known for his memorable images of the world’s most dangerous conflict areas and social disasters: the building of the Berlin wall, the war in Congo, the Vietnam War, civil war in Biafra, fighting in Northern Ireland and the war in Lebanon. However, his recent photography focuses on sublime landscapes. This exhibition is curated by Robert Pledge, Co-founder and Editorial Director of Contact Press Images. McCullin’s work has never been shown in Australia before and the State Library is the exclusive Australian venue.
Caption: Shell-shocked US soldier awaiting transportation away from the frontline, Têt Offensive, Hué, South Vietnam, 1968, Contact Press Images © Don McCullin
Portraits of War: The Crown Studios Project
- Open:
- 28 June 2014 – 21 September 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
In May 1918 the Mitchell Library Trustees embarked upon an ambitious project: to photograph NSW soldiers heading overseas to serve in World War I.
Officers of the Australian Imperial Force and Naval Forces were invited to the Crown Bromide Enlargement Company, the Crown Studios, in George Street Sydney to be photographed in person or their families sent photographs to be copied. However, due to a fire at Crown Studios in December 1918 the project was never completed.
From this project, the Library holds over 1600 touching portraits and 230 of these feature in Portraits of War: The Crown Studios Project.
Image: Alfred Duroux, NSW servicemen portraits, 1918–19, Crown Studios, P1 / Duroux, Alfred
Life Interrupted: Personal Diaries from World War I
- Open:
- 5 July 2014 – 21 September 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
They were teachers, farmers, clerks and architects. Some were still at school. They came from cities, regional towns and the bush. From August 1914 Australian men and women kissed their loved ones goodbye and enlisted in a war they knew little about.
With pride, they went to war with just a few months of battle training under their belts. Some would not return home; those who did were changed forever.
For many, the only link back to a life dramatically interrupted by war was a personal diary with tales of adventure, heartache, bravery — and thoughts of home.
From 1918 the State Library of NSW began collecting the WWI stories of soldiers, doctors, nurses, stretcher-bearers and journalists so that future generations would know about their experiences.
Life Interrupted remembers those who served — in their own words.
Image: Geizah train stop, Henry Charles Marshall (1890–1915), Kensington to Cairo and from Cairo to Gallipoli: Album of photographs, 1914–1915, PXA 1861
World Press Photo 2014
- Open:
- 24 May 2014 – 22 June 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
This annual exhibition features the award-winning photographs from the prestigious World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Showcasing approximately 200 photographs in ten theme categories including: news, nature, portraits, arts and entertainment, sports, and daily life, this is the Library’s most popular guest exhibition.
The World Press Photo of the Year has just been awarded to photographer John Stanmeyer (USA) for his photograph of African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East.
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon. The exhibition is brought to Sydney by Canon Australia.
Image: John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic, 26 February 2013, Djibouti City, Djibouti, World Press Photo of the Year 2013
Sydney Morning Herald Photos 1440
- Open:
- 24 May 2014 – 22 June 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
There are 1440 minutes in a day. In these minutes photographers capture a moment. These moments make up a day.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s photography exhibition Photos 1440 features prints and multimedia of the best published and unpublished work by Sydney Morning Herald photographers from 2013 to the present.
Sponsored and supported by Fairfax Media and Canon Australia.
Image: Nick Moir, Dead tree in front of a dying storm south east of Canberra, November 2013
Macquarie the Governor, 1810 to 1821
- Open:
- 3 July 2005 – 31 May 2014
- Venue:
- Banking Chamber, No. 1 Martin Place
Kings Cross, 1970 to 1971: Photographs by Rennie Ellis
- Open:
- 16 November 2013 – 11 May 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
The exhibition features twenty-four original photographic prints from the State Library of NSW collection, which were created over the summer of 1970–71 by Melbourne-born Reynolds Mark ‘Rennie’ Ellis.
Ellis and fellow photographer Wesley Stacey wandered the streets of Sydney’s Kings Cross photographing and getting to know the locals and visitors. It was a remarkable time in the history of Kings Cross, when servicemen from Vietnam were enjoying R & R breaks, immigrants opened new coffee shops and restaurants on a daily basis, and young people from the suburbs mingled with drug addicts and prostitutes.
Artist Colony: Drawing Sydney’s Nature
- Open:
- 1 March 2014 – 11 May 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
The excitement Europeans felt for Australia’s natural world sparked a creative outpouring that provided evidence of the abundance of new and exotic species. These first visual impressions in turn inspired a wave of drawing and collecting throughout the world.
Artist Colony draws from the TAL & Dai-ichi Life Derby Collection comprising 745 exquisite drawings and watercolours.
The exhibition, featuring a lavish showcase of 100 rich and evocative late 18th century natural history drawings, tells an intriguing story of obsession and the thirst for knowledge. It reveals the extraordinary artistic culture that emerged out of the early colony’s harsh and unforgiving environment.
Image: Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), PXD 1098, Vol. 4, No. 40
Principal exhibition partner
Collection partners
Born to Concrete
- Open:
- 23 November 2013 – 16 February 2014
- Venue:
- Exhibition Galleries
Visual poetry from the collections of Heide Museum of Modern Art and the University of Queensland
This exhibition examines the emergence of Concrete Poetry in Australia in the mid-1960s and its subsequent developments. Born to Concrete presents works from Heide Museum of Modern Art’s extensive collection of Concrete Poetry, and The University of Queensland Art Collection featuring works created in the 1970s through to the present day. The exhibition features additional material from the State Library of NSW.
Image: All English Literature — Unwritten by Robert MacPherson