Helga Salwe

Helga Salwe is a documentary photographer whose work draws attention to the everyday beauty in people, places and communities. Helga has worked for numerous publications including the Age, The Times on Sunday, The Good Weekend, The Big Issue and Meanjin. She has photographed documentary projects for a diverse array of clients, including SBS, The Australian Conservation Foundation, Unicorn Films, Five Mile Press and Text Publishing.

Her work is exhibited widely and is held in numerous public and private collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, The National Library of Australia and the Epworth Art Foundation. In 2015 Five Mile Press published a book of Helga’s photographs titled ‘Mother Country’. Her work has been short listed for numerous prizes and she was a finalist in The Bowness Photographic prize in both 2016 and 2017. She holds a Masters of Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts. She is represented by Saatchi art and is also a member of Map group, an independent collective of documentary photographers. Currently Helga is working on a new collection of photographs celebrating the Abbotsford Convent.