The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) has launched a quest to list Australia’s top ten iconic photos taken in the last 100 years.

‘We are canvassing our members and the wider community to see which Australian photos gather the most support,’ said AIPP President, Kylie Lyons.
‘The basis of the quest is that the photos themselves are iconic rather than the scenes or landscapes and they must be taken by a photographer associated with Australia. We believe photographers who came to make Australia their home should be included, whether or not the photographs under consideration were made at the time of their being Australian residents.’

If this view is popularly accepted, this would allow the inclusion of such photographers as Sam Haskins and Lewis Morley. Everyone is welcome to nominate their favourite photographs and it is planned to include the ten most nominated photographs in the book One Hundred Years of Professional Photography in Australia. The book contains the history of the AIPP and is being released in September to commemorate the Institute’s 50 years as a national body and the 100 years since the founders took the first steps to national affiliation.

Alasdair Forster, of Cultural Development Consulting and former executive director of the Australian Centre for Photography was asked for some thought starters for a top ten. In chronological order, not ranking, he was thinking of:
Max Dupain Sunbaker (1937)
David Moore Migrants arriving in Sydney (1966)
Carol Jerrems Vale Street (1975)
Merv Bishop Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hands of traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari, Northern Territory (1975)
Peter Dombrovskis Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend (1979)
Tracey Moffatt Something More [central panel] (1989)
Anne Zahalka The Bathers (1989)
Glenn Sloggett Cheaper and Deeper (1996)
Michael Riley Untitled [feather from the series ‘Cloud’] 2000
Trent Parke Self Portrait: Menindee, outback NSW [from ‘Minutes to Midnight’] (2003)

The AIPP is seeking other suggestions for inclusion in the final list. Kylie Lyons has requested all comments should be emailed for collation by the 10th August to the book’s author, Paul Curtis  paul@paulcurtis.com.au.