• Associate Professor, UNSW Art & Design, UNSW
Many of us expect, almost demand, to live a long life, in good health. Many of us won’t. Djuliet

Memento Mori – remember that you have to die

We have – in some of the world – sanitised death, but the custom of post-mortem photography reminds us death is closer to us than we might like to think. This article contains images of dead people.
Cleverly doctored images of the effects of Sydney’s April storms amused social media users – but hoax images have a much longer history. Todd Lopez/@Creative_Order

From epic storm pics to fairies in the garden, be careful with images

The adage that the camera doesn’t lie is, of course, a lie, as a long history of hoaxes amply demonstrates. And yet we can still be duped by tricksters. We should remain vigilant.
After witnessing the rise and fall of many empires, the ancient site of Palmyra is under threat from Islamic State. Phillip George

Islamic State may finally efface the traces of lost empires at Palmyra

Conflict involving Islamic State has raised the prospect of the destruction of Palmyra, a World Heritage site in Syria. It’s not the first time the region has been invaded, but it may well be the last.
Fairfax staff are on strike today in protest against cuts to the picture departments at the company’s mastheads. AAP Image/Julian Smith

We need press photographers to record the first draft of history

In the documentary Gallipoli from Above, an Australian production that recently aired on ABC TV, Hugh Dolan, author of 36 Days: The Untold Story Behind the Gallipoli Landings argues that at 4am on April…
The government is using a graphic novel depicting an asylum seeker’s failed journey to Australia as its latest method of deterrence against boat arrivals. DIBP

Graphic novel versus Taliban: an asylum seeker deterrent?

The immigration department has added new contemporary imagery to the growing list of iconic works that surround the vexed issue of asylum seekers. Most Australians can already vividly recall media of the…
A female Iranian asylum seeker arrives in Australia. What does this image tell us and can we trust our own eyes? DIAC

Worth a thousand words: the imagery of asylum seeker politics

The history of Australian asylum seeker policy is studded with iconic if often distressing imagery. In the most recent addition, officials at Christmas Island filmed and photographed a young Iranian woman…
SANAA YEMEN– MAY 2011: A blind protester attends the demonstration at the Change Square. Yuri Kozyrev/NOOR

Our duty to look: why censoring press photos is wrong

When Destination NSW censored an outdoor photography exhibition meant to appear as part of the Vivid Sydney festival, they offended more than just the photographers who risk life and limb to take these…

Contact Phillip for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision