“Trent Parke has one of the most vivid visual signatures in Australian photojournalism. His photographs do not observe life so much as contain its contradictions within dense, idiosyncratic tableaux.”
Robert McFarlane, Sydney Morning Herald

Trent Parke is considered one of the most innovative photographers of his generation. His exhibition Dream/Life and Beyond is an ongoing document of the streets of Sydney which began when, at the age of 20, he moved from his hometown of Newcastle to live in the capital of New South Wales. In trying to deal with his sense of loneliness at the time, he took to the streets with his Leica camera and began to create a picture of Sydney unlike any other we are accustomed to seeing. As he says of his practice: “I’m always trying to channel personal emotions into my work. That is very different from a lot of documentary photographers who want to depict the city more objectively.”

Dream/Life and Beyond presents a vision of Sydney seemingly peopled with spirits and shrouded in the mythical. What is so striking about the photographs is the way Parke has played with the harsh Australian sunlight, enhancing the dramatic qualities of light and shadow to create a dreamworld that elevates these works beyond the mere document.