Aboriginal actress Deborah Mailman on the set of the documentary Black Chicks Talking, photographed by Jo-Anne Driessens in Mount Isa, Queensland, in 2000.
Open Call for Picture Culture: Here & Now
Open Call: Show us the Sunshine Coast through your eyes! Submit a photo and story capturing heritage, identity, or cultural connection for Picture Culture: Here & Now, part of Horizon 2026.
This collections of photographs may contain culturally sensitive stories and may contain images of those who have passed.
We’re looking for bold, beautiful, everyday moments of cultural life on the Sunshine Coast through the lens of a local.
APPLY NOW
Applications close: 18 February 2026
If you’re part of a migrant or diaspora community, a First Nations storyteller, or someone whose home is rooted in both the afar and the here, this is for you.
Picture Culture: Here & Now is part of Horizon 2026 and invites locals to capture the Sunshine Coast — alive with stories, traditions, and identities that stretch beyond the expected. This is your chance to show what everyday cultural life looks like, from quiet rituals to joyful celebrations, and the ways people shape this region.
Submit a photo taken in the past year that captures your heritage, cultural connection, identity, or exchange, and pair your image with a text that tells your story in your own words.
All cameras are welcome — phones, vintage gear, DIY setups. No experience needed.
Selected works will be exhibited at the Old Ambulance Station Gallery, Nambour, 1–30 May 2026.
How to Get Involved
- Capture Your Moment: Take or submit a photo that celebrates your heritage, cultural connection, identity, or exchange.
- Tell Your Story: Pair your image with a short text that tells your story in your own words.
- Submit Your Work: Selected works will be part of the exhibition at the Old Ambulance Station Gallery.
Submit your photo and story and help show the Sunshine Coast thriving in full colour.
APPLY NOW
Applications close: 18 February 2026
Need a hand applying?
Picture Culture Application Workshops offer support with writing short texts to pair with images, alongside digital assistance to complete the submission form.
Just bring your image and an idea for the story you would like to tell. If you don’t have an image, we can also help capture one on the day.
Please join one of the following workshops:
Caloundra Library+
Ground Floor, 1 Omrah Avenue, Caloundra
Friday 16 January
10am–12pm
Nambour Library
Ground Floor, corner Currie Street & Bury Street, Nambour
Tuesday 20 January
10am–12pm
Maroochydore Library
Ground Floor, 44 Sixth Avenue, Cotton Tree
Wednesday 21 January
10am–12pm
The Picture Culture: Here & Now exhibition will be curated by award-winning photographer Jo-Anne Driessens, who was raised in Brisbane and is Guwa-Koa, Gungarri, Kuku Yalanji descendant. Jo-Anne is also an archivist and contributor to anthropological research, exhibition programs and Aboriginal Family history support. Holidaying on the Sunshine Coast growing up, Jo-Anne brings a blended perspective to understanding the identity of the Coast through photography. For Driessens the camera is an important tool for capturing the preservation of living culture in First Nations communities.
Picture Culture: Here & Now provides a platform for culturally and linguistically diverse people, often underrepresented in photography exhibitions, to share their work. It also provides an opportunity for aspiring photographers of all ages to tell their stories.
For more information contact: [email protected]