Civilisation, Photography, Now looks at our built environments and our hyper-connected, 21stcentury lives through the eyes of the skilful photographers who have so vividly pictured them. Humans engineer vast systems and structures, producing dazzling spectacles and generating complex conflicts. These ceaseless activities are captured in Civilisation, Photography, Now which features the work of 100 of the world’s finest photographers.

The exhibition illustrates our increasingly global, connected society, and encourages viewers to consider where we live, how we consume, and how we travel, learn, explore and control. Art and documentary photography, photojournalism and commercial image-making by artists including Richard Misrach, Candida Höfer, Pieter Hugo, Taryn Simon and An-My Lê focus attention on our habitation of the planet.

Civilisation, Photography, Now is curated by renowned international photography curators William A. Ewing and Holly Roussell. The exhibition is co-produced by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, and the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis and Lausanne. Ron Brownson is the coordinating curator for Auckland Art Gallery.

Click here to read an article by William Ewing and Holly Roussell on Civilisation, Photography, Now in a Covid-19 World.

Get involved in our My Civilisation Now creative photography competition. Click here to find out how to enter. 

Civilisation, Photography, Now is supported by Principal Partner AUT with Major Partners Beca and Jasmax, and Media Partners QMS and Mai FM.

Image above: Mike Kelley Flughafen Zürich 28 and 16 (Visual Separation), from the series Airportraits, 2015 © Mike Kelley

Civilisation, Photography, Now is conceived as a journey through eight key aspects of contemporary civilisation:

• HIVE explores the urban networks that form modern cities with images depicting the intricate ebb and flow of human activity in ever-changing built environments
• ALONE TOGETHER presents people and their relationships and considers how an increasingly digitised world influences our social relations.
• FLOW reveals both the invisible and visible movement of people, goods and ideas around the world and the effect these systems have on our understanding of contemporary life.
• PERSUASION investigates the mechanisms we use to persuade others to follow our desires, from advertising and business to religion and politics.
• CONTROL highlights the impact of authority, as well as our increasing desire to dictate order and structure our future development.
• RUPTURE examines social breakdown, revealing conflicts between individuals and forcing us to confront civilisation’s failures.
• ESCAPE examines leisure and recreation, including cruise ships and amusement parks, as well as revealing the paradoxical stress within holiday industries.
• NEXT surveys the world taking shape in the 21st century, where rapid technological advancement is global.

Supported by 

Members FREE – Become a Member

Single exhibition entry (valid on any single day between Sat 13 Jun – Sun 18 Oct 2020): Civilisation, Photography, Now.

Adults $19

Concessions $16
(Community Services Card holders, Seniors, Students with ID.)

How to book

In advance
We're partnering with Eventfinda to offer online ticket sales for Civilisation, Photography, Now.

buy tickets

On the day
You can also buy tickets on any day of the exhibition (Sat 13 Jun – Sun 18 Oct 2020) from the Gallery's information desk on Ground level. and

More information

Prices include GST. Booking and delivery fees, where charged, are additional to the admission price.

There is no entry charge for children aged 12 or under. (All children 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult.)

Auckland Art Gallery Members go FREE:

• Present your membership card at the information desk on the day of your visit and you will be issued with a ticket to the exhibition.
• Members with a guest pass may also bring their guest for FREE.

Buy membership

Click here to view a recording of the panel discussion, AKL, Now Next. 

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Get involved in our My Civilisation Now creative photography competition. Share your view of how you see your world in this time of Covid 19, whether it was captured before or during lockdown, or now.

We’re calling on all amateur, first-time, student and emerging photographers to post your best shots to Instagram, responding to one of the Civilisation, Photography, Now exhibition’s eight themes:

Hive | Alone Together | Flow | Persuasion | Control Rupture | Escape | Next