Whether it’s an image of the most famous person on the planet, or a little-known victim of tragedy, the best of the Herald’s photography will stop you in your tracks.
“A good photo will jolt you from your day to day, force you to pause and look,” says the Herald’s managing editor, photographic, Mags King.
A collection of arresting images from the Herald will be on display in the Photos1440 exhibition at the NSW State Library from May 25.
Triple treat: Taylor Swift, centre, is dwarfed by her twin images during her series of gigs at Accor Stadium in February 2024.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Wolter Peeters’ image of the most photographed person in the world, Taylor Swift, still finds a way to tell an unfamiliar story.
“Wolter has framed Swift as a mere human in the middle of a massive stage, while the humungous projections on either side show us how the world sees her,” King, who curated the exhibition, says.
Less recognisable but no less arresting is Theresa Ardler, a member of the Wreck Bay PFAS contamination class action, captured in a stunning portrait by Rhett Wyman.
Artist Theresa Ardler in Wreck Bay on the NSW South Coast.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Through Wyman’s lens, we see what Ardler has endured as carcinogenic chemicals poisoned her home. After losing both her parents before her 18th birthday, the 51-year-old now fears for her own health. She suffers from coronary heart disease and has had a cancerous cyst removed from her pancreas.
The Herald’s photography is grounded in the wealth of experience of photojournalists like Kate Geraghty, who has been with the organisation for 25 years.
Geraghty’s unique ability to cover conflict was evident again last year, when she travelled to Israel and Palestine after the October 7 attacks, capturing female mourners as they surrounded the body of a teenager killed by an Israeli soldier.
Female mourners during the funeral of Suhaib Al-Sous, aged 15. Suhaib was shot dead by Israeli soldiers while participating in a peaceful demonstration. Credit: Kate Geraghty
“It was a beautiful but upsetting moment,” Geraghty says.
“These final goodbyes and touches of tenderness and love between mother and child, sister and brother. It was heartbreaking.”
But, as King explains, the beauty of the exhibition is how it demonstrates the Herald’s role as “documenters of our time”; not just of important global events, but also of unique local phenomena.
Flavio Brancaleone was on the scene at Bronte Beach on Christmas Day when a huge crowd of expats descended to celebrate a sun-drenched Aussie Christmas.
Revellers flock to Bronte pool for a Christmas Day bash.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“The way [Brancaleone] positioned himself in the water, among all the bodies, and then you can see the one distinct local flanking the image on the right,” King says.
While King says the speed of the news cycle “doesn’t always allow for artistry to happen”, she commends the photographers when they find ways for creativity to come through.
“That’s the intention of this exhibition, to show that artistry within the pace of the newsroom … and to display our images on a different scale from what our readers are used to.”
Photos1440 is at the NSW State Library from May 25 to July 7. Admission is free.