Site Unseen in a Photographic organisation run by students for students. Since 1997 there have been seven books produced, containing the best of Australian Tertiary Student Photographers work. Here is the story of the past, the present and the future…

The Beginning

In 1997 a group of students at Mt. Lawley TAFE initiated the concept of Site Unseen.  The aim was to have their images seen and appreciated beyond the campus walls, by the industry and the public. They decided to run a competition where by students could enter up to 6 images to be judged by a panel of professional photographers. There was to be no constraint on the medium used, the subject of the images, or any categories to fit into. The top 80 images were then published in a hard cover book and launched along side a touring exhibition.

They were only able to realise their dream through local fundraising and with the encouragement and financial support of many generous sponsors.  The naming sponsor, Fujifilm Australia, have provided massive support from the very beginning. For the first book, and the 5 to follow, the competition existed in West Australia only.

And Then…

Following the acclaimed success of the first book, Site Unseen has gone onto produce 5 other collections that have showcased the work of over 430 students and has helped launch their professional careers. These books have been produced on an almost yearly basis, and each year a new committee has taken on the challenge of running the competition, producing the book from scratch and organising the exhibition tour.

Every committee that has produced these collections has longed to make Site Unseen a National competition whereby tertiary photography students from around Australia could be judged along side their peers and have the opportunity to be published.

The Present

Following the Launch of “The Fujifilm Site Unseen Collection 05” (the sixth book) in November of 2004, three of the committee members, plus one former committee member from Site Unseen 03, decided to take on the challenge of making the first National collection.  After signing up 4 new committee members, the crew got to work contacting photography campuses around Australia and meeting with their students to promote the National competition.

In June 2005 the competition was officially opened and we received over 1000 entries from 278 students around Australia. In early September 2005 the images were judged 6 professional photographers comprising of Leon Bird (WA), Toni Fuller (NSW), Greg Hocking (WA), Jeff Moorfoot(VIC), Suzette Nesire(VIC) and Lisa Wilde (WA). The judges were required to score each image from 1 to 5 and the scores were then tallied up. After two days of intense judging, the top 200 images were selected for publication and the Fujifilm Cover Prize and Fujifilm Folio Prize winners were chosen.

Following the judging the committee commenced pre-press, where the 200 images were expertly scanned and colour proofed, as well as finalising the books design. The book was then printed in China under the supervision of two Site Unseen committee members.

The Future

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