Anglesea’s Christina de Water is part of the legacy of students from Prahran College's photography program.
What happens to photographers when the cameras get heavier, the darkrooms disappear, and instagram takes over the visual world? Turns out—they keep creating. And in the case of Beyond the Basement, they do it with all the depth, soul, and style they’ve honed over decades.
The Prahran Legacy: Beyond the Basement
- Opening day: Sunday 4 May, 2-4pm
- Exhibition running until 25 May
- Where: Magnet Galleries, Melbourne
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Opening at MAGNET Galleries, Beyond the Basement is a tribute to the enduring legacy of students from Prahran College’s legendary photography program—names who studied under mentors like the iconic Athol Shmith, landscape artist John Cato, and the late, great filmmaker Paul Cox. These were the rockstars of Australian visual culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s, and the work coming out of their classrooms? Groundbreaking.
Among the featured artists is Anglesea local Christina de Water, whose inclusion in the exhibition celebrates not just a personal legacy, but the continued contribution of Surf Coast creatives to the broader Australian art scene.
The photographers showcased are now in their 60s to 80s, but the passion hasn’t aged a day. This isn’t just a retrospective—it’s a show about resilience, reinvention, and lifelong creativity. Beyond the Basement doesn’t dwell in nostalgia—it captures the ongoing evolution of a group of artists who’ve witnessed photography shift from darkroom magic to digital saturation and kept right on shooting.
Each image in the show is accompanied by a short artist profile, giving insight into their journeys—how Prahran shaped their early visions, and what photography means to them now. It’s a rare look at what happens after the hype, when making art becomes a life’s work, not just a youthful calling.
The exhibition runs alongside The Basement at the Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh), which dives deep into the culture and characters of the Prahran photography scene of the 1970s. Together, these exhibitions paint a rich, layered picture of one of Australia’s most influential creative movements.
This show also marks eleven years since Susanne and Michael Silver, alongside Prahran alum Colin Abbott, first curated a retrospective of the 1974–1976 cohort. That spark has now grown into a powerful archive of visual storytelling and community memory.
If you’ve ever been captivated by the click of a shutter, the magic of a black-and-white print, or the quiet power of a well-framed moment, Beyond the Basement is an exhibition worth experiencing. It’s a celebration of artistry, time, and the people who never stopped looking through the lens—even as the world changed around them.
Beyond the Basement is now showing at MAGNET Galleries, Docklands and runs concurrently with The Basement at the Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh), find out more here.
