Trent Parke

Trent Parke was born in 1971 and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. Using his mother’s Pentax Spotmatic and the family laundry as a darkroom, he began taking pictures when he was around 12 years old. He began his career as a press photojournalist and, in 2007, became the first Australian to become a full member of Magnum Photos.

Parke is one of the most innovative photographers of his generation. He is known for his poetic, often darkly humorous photography which offers an emotional and psychological portrait of his home country of Australia — from the southern outback to its busy beaches. Though rooted in documentary, his works sit between fiction and reality, exploring themes of identity, place and family life.

Parke’s work has been exhibited widely and is held in major institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Art Gallery of South Australia. In 2015, his solo exhibition The Black Rose premiered at the Art Gallery of South Australia, featuring photographs, lightboxes, video, written texts and books. Parke has also published seven monographs: Dream/Life (1999), The Seventh Wave with Narelle Autio (2000), Minutes to Midnight (2013), The Christmas Tree Bucket (2014), Crimson Line (2020), Cue the Sun (2022) and Monument (2023).