The Museum of Brisbane’s Elliott Collection consists of the work of an amateur photographer, Alfred Henrie Elliott (1870—1954), who captured a bygone era of 19th and 20th century Brisbane. The collection was discovered in 1983 and donated to the City of Brisbane Collection, and is now on display in New Light: Photography Now + Then.
Alongside Elliott’s photographs are seven newly commissioned artworks by Brisbane creatives offering a fresh perspective on the historical images—Marian Drew, Jo-Anne Driessens, Joachim Froese, Tammy Law, Carl Warner, Nina White and Keemon Williams.
The seven artists will be “responding to the incredible source material that is the Elliott Collection, while also reflecting on the biases and ambiguities found within the archive,” says exhibition curator Elena Dias-Jayasinha. “By layering their own perspectives, knowledge and experiences onto the collection, the artists will encourage new ways of looking at our past, our present and this place.”
View, in pictures, this conversation between past and present.
Alfred Henrie Elliott image from The Elliott Collection.
Artist Joachim Froese. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
Alfred Henrie Elliott image from The Elliott Collection.
Artist Carl Warner. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
Alfred Henrie Elliott image from The Elliott Collection.
Artist Nina White. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
Artist Tammy Law. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
Alfred Henrie Elliott image from The Elliott Collection.
Artist Marian Drew. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
Artist Jo-Anne Driessens. New Light Photography Now + Then at Museum of Brisbane, 2024. Photo by Katie Bennett.
New Light: Photography Now + Then
Museum of Brisbane
On now—13 July 2025
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