Narelle Autio – Bio

Narelle Autio’s vibrant images of Australian outback and coastal life have won her widespread acclaim and continue to capture the hearts and imaginations of viewers. Her sophisticated use of colour, light and composition create photographs that evoke the complex beauty of Australia’s landscape, which is otherwise eroded by postcards and clichés.

Autio has an impressive list of accolades. She has won World Press Awards, an American Picture of the Year Award, a Walkley Award and was the first Australian to win the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award. In 2016 she was a Finalist with collaborator Trent Parke in the Basil Sellars Art Prize (following solo participation in 2014) and was a Finalist in the Fleurieu Art Prize. In 2013 she was a Finalist in the Bowness Photography Prize and The Olive Cotton Prize. Her work has featured in national and international exhibitions, including solo presentations of The Summer of Us at the Australia Embassy in Paris (2014-2016) and the Bibliotheque Departementale des Bouches-du-Rhone, France (2014). Curated exhibitions include Drawn to Water, New York (2013); 10 Australian Photographers, Queensland Centre for Photography (2012); Hijacked 2, Australian Centre of Photography (2010); Light Sensitive: Contemporary Australian Photography, National Gallery of Australia (2006-2007), Fifth Leica/CCP Documentary Award (2006); Noorderlicht Fotofestival (2002); and Summer Life, Alice Austin House Museum, New York (2003).

Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, Parliament House Collection, Artbank, National Gallery of Victoria, Samstag Museum of Art, Australian National Maritime Museum, as well as many private and corporate collections.