Join us to launch Manifesto : Melbourne

5:30 PM Thursday 4 June

Every photograph made today carries traces of the movements that shaped photography between the 1890s and the 1970s. These ways of seeing continue to influence how photographers frame the world, understand light, and construct meaning.

Melbourne : Manifesto is based on this concept and invites viewers to experience Melbourne through the eyes of twenty of history’s most influential photographers from the 1890s to the 1970s.

Photographer Greg Branson re-imagines the city by creating one photograph for each of these masters — each image inspired by their distinctive style, vision, and philosophy.

From the evocative, soft-focus sensibility of Alfred Stieglitz’s pictorialism to the raw immediacy of Daidō Moriyama’s streets, Branson translates their creative essence into Melbourne’s urban language.

Through this series, familiar landmarks such as the National Gallery of Victoria, Queen Victoria Market, and the city’s vibrant dining culture are transformed into scenes of reflection, geometry, and emotion.

These works are not pastiche but homage; each print a study in how vision, temperament, and philosophy shape what we see. Together, they form a collective portrait of Melbourne as muse: restless, reflective, and endlessly photogenic.

All work has been shot on analogue cameras, processed and hand silver gelatin printed by Greg Branson.

Register for opening night: Thursday 4 June 5:30 at City of Melbourne Gallery
253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

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