About Us
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is a world-class arts organisation delivering an internationally significant photographic arts festival, activating the city of Ballarat and enriching the cultural landscape of Victoria and Australia, every two years.
Over 60 days from August to October, the festival delivers:
– A curated Core Program showcasing Australian and international artists;
– An Open Program of new artists;
– Workshops and public programs, artist-in-residence and more.
The 2025 Ballarat International Foto Biennale marked the 11th edition of the festival, first established in 2005. Over its twenty-year history, the Biennale has grown into one of Australia’s leading visual arts events, attracting cumulative audiences of more than 250,000 and contributing in excess of $28 million in direct economic impact to the Ballarat region.
Running from 23 August to 19 October 2025, the festival once again transformed Ballarat into a city-wide celebration of photography and lens-based art. The Core Program showcased significant Australian and international artists, anchored by three headline exhibitions: I Love Campbell by British-Ghanaian artist Campbell Addy; Enninful x Mapplethorpe, featuring original silver gelatin prints by Robert Mapplethorpe curated by Edward Enninful OBE; and Catherine Leroy: One-Way Ticket to Vietnam 1966–1968, presenting the remarkable photography of French photojournalist Catherine Leroy.
The Core Program also included Prompted Peculiar, the international AI photography prize, the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize, Long Exposure: The Legacy of Prahran College, and Thành Phẩm by Lê Nguyên Phương.
The festival continued to champion creative experimentation and public engagement. The Outdoor Program brought large-scale photographic installations and artist commissions to laneways, historic buildings, and civic sites, including works such as Mumu Mirri, Memory Matrix, and Guma, inviting audiences to encounter art through movement, everyday spaces, and shared social environments.
The Open Program extended across Ballarat’s galleries, cafés, shopfronts, cultural venues, and temporary spaces, enabling artists at all stages to present new work and engage with festival audiences. This city-wide approach reinforced the Biennale’s role in supporting local creative practice, arts access, and regional cultural tourism.
Across the two-month festival, the public was invited to participate in workshops, artist talks, panel discussions, portfolio reviews, and special events, such as The Art of Lunch at RACV Goldfields Resort and curated visitor itineraries such as the Pyrenees Photo Trail and regional arts travel experiences.
The 2025 Biennale further strengthened Ballarat’s profile as a cultural destination and contributed to sector development by supporting artists, expanding audiences, building industry networks, and deepening community engagement with art and ideas.
Jeff Moorfoot OAM is the founder of the organisation, starting the event in the regional Victorian town of Daylesford before it relocated to Ballarat as the festival expanded. Jeff retired in 2015 as the driving force behind Australia’s largest and most comprehensive international festival of photography. Future festivals have featured renowned artists including David LaChapelle, Liu Bolin, The Linda McCartney: Retrospective and Platon’s People Power.
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is also developing a permanent gallery and art institution. The National Centre for Photography will be located in a beautiful heritage-listed former bank building in the heart of Ballarat.
Ballarat International Foto Biennale is an invited member of the International Biennial Association and led the formation of the Asia Pacific Photoforum. It is the only Oceanic Member of the Festival of Light.
2005 to 2015 Jeff Moorfoot OAM – founder and Artistic Director
2016 to 2021 Fiona Sweet – Artistic Director and CEO
2022 to current Vanessa Gerrans – Artistic Director and CEO
