Exhibitions

Australian Life

Related to Art & About Sydney
Installed 14 September 2017
Public artArt and AboutTemporary art
People view large outdoor photo displays in a public square, with city buildings and historic architecture in the background.

A nationwide photography competition and exhibition open to professionals and amateurs each year.

Enter the Australian Life 2026 competition

Entries close at 11:59pm on Sunday 17 May 2026.

Learn more

Artwork description

Australian Life is one of the country’s biggest and most democratic photography prizes.

For more than 20 years, amateur and professional photographers have shared images encapsulating Australia’s unique personality. From the epic to the intimate, the harsh to the fragile, these photos capture a moment of Australian Life.

Each year, 30 finalists have their work displayed in an outdoor exhibition at Circular Quay. The finalists and winners are chosen by a panel of professional photographers, artists and curators, and take home prizes worth up to $10,000. There's also a People’s Choice Award presented, based on votes from viewers during the exhibition.

Australian Life 2025 winners announced

  • Grand prize winner, over 18 category: Riley Swanson on the Roma Southern Road by Carly Earl.
  • Grand prize winner, under 18 category: February Boat Carnival by Callum Poling.
  • People’s Choice Award: Two Ends of an Alley by Christopher Wang.
Two men in wide-brimmed hats stand by a lorry on a rural road at sunset, with cattle and another lorry visible in the distance.
Black and white photo of a crowded beach with people, surfboats lined up along the shore, and some swimmers walking out of the water.

Australian Life 2024

  • Grand prize winner, over 18 category: Penalty Shootout by Hank Paul.
  • Grand prize winner, under 18 category: Sumtya by Amalia Tawa.
  • People’s Choice Award: Victorian Vampires by Chrissie Hall.
A black and white image of a small crowd of people in formal clothes gathered around a mobile phone at a wedding reception, with expressions of shock and excitement on their faces.
A mother and two young children dressed in matching black and red vampire costumes in the dark interior of a house. A chess set, taxidermy animals, and a mirror in a gilded frame are all in the background.

Australian Life 2023

  • Grand prize winner: On the Way to Inspections by Samuel Ferris.
  • People’s Choice Award: Public telephone booth near me by Javier Alexis Rendon Diaz.
A person standing in front of a pole, with one child touching the pole and another child jumping up a wall
Two people standing close together in a phone both with one holding the phone up to their ear.

Australian Life 2022

  • Grand prize winner: Hunting with Fire by Matthew Abbott.
  • People’s Choice Award: Wombarra Bowling Club by Katelyn Slyer.
Two Nawarddeken people walk through a dark forest lit by the glow of a fire. The person in front holds a torch in one hand and a snake in the other.
A black and white image of several young people in casual summer clothes conversing under an awning.

Australian Life 2021

  • Grand prize winner: Youth by Georgia Brogan.
  • People’s Choice Award: It Always Rains Before Kick Off by Elise Derwin.
A young girl sitting in the back seat of a car on a rainy night
A young football fan in a shirt with a white collar stands in front of a green field, tilts his head back in the rain and smiles.

Australian Life archives

Explore the Australian Life competition and exhibition in years past.

Partners

The Australian Life photography competition is sponsored by OM SYSTEM.

Three children in a lounge; one holds a "Sibling love" sign whilst the other two playfully wrestle and pull funny faces.

Exhibitions

Little Sydney Lives

Photography competition and exhibition for budding image-makers aged 5 to 12 years.
Sydney

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