Disaster and despair need not define us

Today we’re finishing the hanging of prints for a month-long exhibition of the Herald’s best photography from throughout the past year. Called Photos 1440, it’s one of four exhibitions that are part of Canon’s EOS Festival of Photography, and we’re quite thrilled that it’s going to be conducted alongside the Sydney leg of the World Press Photo exhibition world-tour.

With Photos 1440 and the Word Press Photo exhibitions occurring simultaneously in opposite wings of the State Library of New South Wales, the contrast between their respective works is all the more clear and it begs the question: why must World Press Photo be so bloody upsetting all of the time? It’s generally very worthy subject-matter I concede, but surely there’s more of that to be found than is for the most part confined to conflicts and generic misfortune, year after year after year?

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