Image: Bianca in the kitchen Broken Hill, 2010. Robin Sellick.
Broken Hill City Art Gallery will host a full-day creative workshop with Australian photographic portrait artist Robin Sellick on Sunday 1 March, offering local artists and creative practitioners a rare opportunity to work closely with one of the country's most respected portrait photographers.
Sellick's portraits are held in major national collections and his book Life & Times in the Republic of Broken Hill is widely recognised as an important cultural record of regional Australia. Broken Hill has played a formative role in shaping his practice and continues to inform his approach to portraiture, storytelling and visual authorship.
The workshop, Portraiture, Place and Truth – What Makes a Photograph Last, explores how creative work is shaped by environment, perception and the decisions artists make over time. While grounded in photographic portraiture, the program is designed for artists working across all disciplines and experience levels.
Participants will take part in guided observation exercises, case studies, discussion and practical portrait sessions focused on presence, attention and intention rather than technical equipment. The program emphasises visual literacy and sustainable creative practice.
The full schedule includes sessions on reading a subject, using environment as narrative, understanding light as emotional tone and analysing why some images endure while others fade.
Sellick said the workshop is designed to shift how artists see before they make.
"The aim is not to teach technique. It's to deepen perception. Once that changes, everything else follows."
Attendance is limited to 20 participants to maintain a focused working environment.
A public Art After Dark conversation with Sellick will also take place at the gallery on Friday 27 February, offering a broader discussion on photography, Australian identity and the role regional places play in shaping cultural work.
Event details
Workshop: Portraiture, Place and Truth – What Makes a Photograph Last
Date: Sunday 1 March, 10am - 5pm
Location: Broken Hill City Art Gallery
Tickets: $85 ($75 for gallery members)
Capacity: 20 participants
