Prahran photography legacy celebrated at Docklands exhibition

A new exhibition opening this month at MAGNET Galleries in Docklands will pay tribute to the enduring artistry of Prahran College’s renowned photography students from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The Prahran Legacy: Beyond the Basement opens on Sunday, May 4 and showcases the works of photographers now in their 60s to 80s who continue to innovate and explore the evolving medium of photography.

The exhibition features former students who studied under some of Australia’s most celebrated mentors, including portraitist Athol Shmith, landscape artist John Cato, and filmmaker Paul Cox, during a transformative period for photographic art.

Their images, accompanied by brief profiles, offer a reflection on careers shaped at Prahran College and the meaning photography holds for them today.

The show also marks 11 years since MAGNET Galleries’ directors Susanne and Michael Silver, alongside alumnus Colin Abbott, first curated a major anniversary exhibition for Prahran’s 1974-1976 cohort – a continuing effort to preserve and celebrate a unique chapter of Australian photographic history.

Beyond the Basement runs alongside The Basement: Photography from Prahran College (1968–1981) currently showing at the Museum of Australian Photography, complemented by a new book documenting the college’s influence up to 1991.

The exhibition will run at MAGNET Galleries (SC G19 Wharf St, The District Docklands) from May 4 to 25. Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and weekends from 11am to 4pm.