Drawn from the Solander Collection, An Alternative History of Photography finds new angles and timelines within photography’s broad history by taking diversity and democracy as its organizing principles. Featuring obscure photographic works alongside more recognizable images, photography is celebrated as the decentralized and participatory medium that it is.

The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive publication. The book explores previous works of photographic history that lent themselves to shaping a ‘canon’. To discover why an alternative lens is always necessary, author and exhibition curator Philip Prodger critiques these earlier surveys as male-dominated, exceptionally white, with a tendency to focus on technical aspects instead of creative expression. He calls for the 21st century to strive for a more perfect vision, one in which diverse practices across Australia to Uzbekistan and from China to Chile are seen with greater clarity.  

An Alternative History of Photography invites the viewers to look again at well-known works and new discoveries by major artists alongside forgotten greats, regional champions and unknown artists.

In addition to providing a touchstone for conversations about new perspectives in art history, An Alternative History of Photography engages with educational themes including colonialism, gender, class, privilege and racial and ethnic identity.