A Chippendale photography exhibition will bring together candid images of Sydney ferry passengers and intimate portraits of women, with award-winning photographers Gavin Libotte and Katherine Griffiths exploring different experiences of observing and being observed.
Titled Liminality | Passenger, the exhibition will run from 11 to 18 November 2026 at Peach Black Gallery on Abercrombie Street as part of the 2026 Head On Photo Festival Open Program. The two photographers approach their subjects differently. Libotte documents people during ordinary ferry journeys, while Griffiths works with women who knowingly participate in the creation of their portraits.
Sydney Ferries Through Libotte’s Lens
Libotte’s Passenger series focuses on moments aboard Sydney’s ferries, where passengers share a public setting while experiencing their journeys individually. His photographs explore solitude and introspection through candid street photography, concentrating on moments when people are not consciously presenting themselves to a photographer.
Born in Kent, England, Libotte developed an interest in photography as a teenager, later studying fine art and graphic design in Perth. He has exhibited internationally and developed a practice centred on photographing everyday life. His recent achievements include the 2025 Mayor of Waverley Prize, awarded through the Head On Photo Awards for his series Wanderland. The same series also won the Series category at the 2025 Istanbul Street Photography Festival, adding to his recognition in international street photography competitions.
Photo Credit: Supplied
Chippendale Photography Exhibition Pairs Two Perspectives
Griffiths’ Liminality series moves away from the public setting of Sydney’s ferries to women’s circles in the Upper Colo region. Developed through her own involvement in the gatherings, the portraits examine female identity, vulnerability and the connections formed between women. Her subjects consciously participate in being photographed, forming a contrast with the unguarded moments documented in Libotte’s street photography.
Griffiths began her career in photojournalism before expanding into portraiture and conceptual photography. Her work explores personal identity, memory, emotion and the relationship between individual experiences and photographic representation.
Photo Credit: Supplied
She was a finalist in the 2016 National Photographic Portrait Prize and the 2025 Head On Portrait Awards. Her previous exhibitions include Closer: Portraits of Survival at the Sydney Jewish Museum in 2017 and Naturally Beautiful, exhibited in Canberra and Melbourne.
The pairing brings two established photographic practices into the same exhibition, with Libotte concentrating on people moving through shared public spaces and Griffiths examining deliberate encounters between photographer and subject.
The exhibition forms part of Head On’s broader 2026 program, with both photographers presenting separate collections under the joint title Liminality | Passenger. The opening-night event is scheduled for Thursday 12 November, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Head On lists exhibition viewing hours as 11:00 am to 6:00 pm daily until 18 November.
Published 5-November-2026
