Email: tajette@gmail.com
Mobile: +61 405 205 620
Tajette O’Halloran is an Australian photographic artist whose practice investigates the social and emotional terrain of adolescence, identity, and belonging within the context of regional and rural Australia.
She recently completed a 12-month major commission with The Powerhouse Museum, documenting the nightlife of youth across the Northern Rivers region. The project will be exhibited at Parliament House in March, 2026 marking a significant institutional presentation of her work.
Tajette's work has been recognised extensively in Australia and internationally. She is a recipient of the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Humanity award (UK 2019) and a LensCulture Juror’s Pick (USA 2020), and has been shortlisted or awarded across all major Australian photography prizes, including multiple National Portrait Prize selections (National Portrait Gallery, Canberra ACT 2021,2023), The Olive Cotton Award (Tweed Regional Gallery 2021, 2025) The William and Winifred Bowness Prize (MAPH, VIC 2016,2019) and Moran Photographic Prize (Moran Foundation, Sydney NSW 2016, 2018, 2019)
Her photographs have been published in The New York Times, The British Journal of Photography, and The Guardian, where her Schoolies work was selected as one of the top three images of 2025. She is a member of Australia’s longest running photography collective, Oculi.
Exhibitions
2026 Powerhouse Nighttime Commission, Parliament House (upcoming)
2025 Photo Sydney, Sydney Contemporary, NSW
2025 The Quarry, Hillvale Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2025 In Suburbia (Recent Detours), S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2025 Agenda, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, NSW
2024 The Quarry, Byron School of Art Project Space, Mullumbimby, NSW
2023 National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2022 ACTS I-VII, PHOTO 2022 / Benalla Regional Gallery, Benalla, VIC
2022 New Discoveries in Contemporary Photography, LensCulture, Caelum Gallery, New York, NY
2021 In Living Memory, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2020 ICP Concerned: Global Images for Global Crisis, International Centre of Photography, New York, NY
2019, 2016 CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, VIC
Commissions (Selected)
2025-2026 Nightlife Commission, Powerhouse Museum, NSW
2024 Flow Hive ‘Protecting Our Pollinators’ editorial for Australian Geographic
2023 Missy Higgins Album Campaign ‘The Second Act’
2023 ‘Accidental Activists’ editorial for Australian Geographic
2022 Editorial for ABC (Four Corners)
Awards
2025 Honourable Mention, Galah Regional Photography Prize, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW
2025 Finalist, Olive Cotton Award, Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW
2023 Finalist, Galah Regional Photography Prize, New England Regional Art Museum, NSW
2023, 2021 Finalist, National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, ACT
2021 Honourable Mention, Olive Cotton Award, Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW
2020 Jurors’ Pick, LensCulture, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2020 Shortlisted, Photography Grant, PhMuseum, Bologna, Italy
2019 People’s Choice Award, CCP Salon, Centre for Contemporary Photography, VIC
2019 Finalist, William & Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Museum of Australian Photography, VIC
2019 Winner, Portrait of Humanity Award, British Journal of Photography, London, UK
2019, 2018, 2016 Finalist, Moran Photographic Prize, Moran Foundation, Sydney
2016 Honourable Mention, William & Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC
Speaking and Workshops (Selected)
2025 Podcast Feature - When Harry Met Sally
2023 Artist Talk, The Quarry, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2023, 2020 Workshop, Narrative Storytelling, Byron School of Art, Mullumbimby, NSW
2022 Artist Talk, PHOTO 2022 / Benalla Regional Gallery, Benalla, VIC
2022 In-Conversation, Talking Portraiture, Photo Collective AU, Melbourne, VIC
2021 Interview, In Living Memory, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT
2020 Speaker, The Importance of Building Your Own Body of Work, Canon Podcast Series
2020 Speaker, Light as a Subject, Lyceum Club, Melbourne, VIC
2016 Artist Talk, William & Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, VIC
Press (Selected)
2024 ‘Inclusive, Honest and Tender Explorations of Identity in Australia’s Suburban Landscapes’, Fotonostrum Magazine, Spain
2023 ‘Friendship, freedom and fragility: The photographer who returns to her teenage years’, The Guardian
2020 ‘In Australia’, LensCulture, Italy
2019 ‘Portrait of Humanity Award: You Can Post This After I Die’, British Journal of Photography
Memberships
2020 - present Oculi Collective, Australia