About Us
Founded in 2005, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale is Australia’s most significant and prestigious photographic festival. The not-for-profit event is held in the historic town of Ballarat, immersing the city in photographic art across its galleries, laneways and cultural spaces. Now in its 19th year, the 60-day event attracts incredible international and Australian photographers, enriching the cultural landscape of regional Victoria every two years.
BIFB 2023 is a catalyst for conversation. This year our theme, The Real Thing is a provocation and a nostalgic call to come and see what is real.
BIFB opens the conversation about photography as an art form to a wider audience, not only championing the work of local, national and international photographers but also offering masterclasses, competitions, community programs, interactive exhibitions and more.
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is currently 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.
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 and The Linda McCartney: Retrospective.
Since its inception, BIFB has seen audiences grow to over 240,000 and has contributed more than $17 million in direct economic impact.
BIFB is an invited member of the International Biennale Association and led the formation of the Asia Pacific Photoforum. It is the only Oceanic Member of the Festival of Light and is now in the process of establishing a National Centre for Photography (NCFP) in Ballarat.
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
Message from the CEO
2023 is a big year for BIFB, with a program that challenges us to ask what is real in a world that is bombarded with images. It is also our 10th anniversary edition, a significant milestone for an idea that began as a small regional exhibition and now transforms the city of Ballarat into Australia’s pre-eminent photographic festival, with national and international reach.
BIFB is unique on many fronts, we curate shows and programs introducing exhibitions that are a first in Australia and sometimes the world. We work to connect artists and community through collaboration with organisations including BlackLens, to foster the art of photography among Indigenous artists.
BIFB also opens the conversation about photography as an art form to a wider audience, not only championing the work of local national and international photographers but also offering masterclasses, competitions, community programs, interactive exhibitions and more.
BIFB 2023 is a catalyst for conversation. This year our theme, The Real Thing is a provocation and a nostalgic call to come and see what is real.
Images have become the vernacular of modern life as we are bombarded with snaps, portraits, social document, NFTs, (non-fungible tokens), images generated by Artificial Intelligence and more. It has become our task to sift through this cacophony and determine what has real meaning and what is just visual hyperbole.
BIFB will also look at evolution and innovation, how ideas grow and disrupt how we live and think about the world. It will question the impact of captured and created, manipulated and manufactured and how what we see can influence our world.
Ballarat is a perfect backdrop for this festival, as its businesses, venues, laneways, and historic venues become a full city living exhibition, a trail for visitors to appreciate, something unique at every turn.
BIFB’s reputation and cultural acumen have also led to Ballarat being chosen as the place to develop the National Centre of Photography.
Festivals like this grow from humble beginnings to large scale events only through the support of generous individuals, businesses, City Council and Government that share in the vision of enriching regional cultural life, connecting beyond the region of an international dialogue about photography as an art form.
I would like to thank the BIFB team, our Board, Ballarat City Council, Creative Victoria and Visit Victoria, our Principle Partners, RACV and TOM and all of our generous supporters and donors and the legions of volunteers that make this Biennale possible.
I invite you to come and see The Real Thing between August and October this year and really explore everything Ballarat has to offer.
Vanessa Gerrans, CEO BIFB
