Concrete Playground

In his amazing text exploring the essence of photography, cultural theorist Roland Barthes talks about ‘the image that pricks’.  This refers to the moment when the photographer is moved by the scene in front of them, and clicks the button to capture this vision at just the right moment.

Now in its eleventh year, the Nikon-Walkley Photographic Exhibition includes over a hundred images that prick - these are the finalist photographs from the Nikon-Walkley 2011 Press Photography awards.

With the tumultuous year that was 2011, the collection on display includes some incredibly moving images with many photographs of the Queensland floods, Cyclone Yasi and the Christmas Island boat tragedy on display. Though with the records of disaster there are also moments of great triumph and excitement to view as well – the tenacity of Australians in the aftermath of the many natural disasters, many of the great moments in art and sport, visits from royalty – that is, Her Majesty the Queen and the honourable Lady Gaga.

The exhibition opens this week and will be on display until late February, taking up three levels of wall space at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Get down to New Farm today and see what ol’ Barthes was talking about.

Image credit: Stuart McEvoy, 'Cyclone Yasi – Maria Domandi'