Lisa Jayne Cramer is an Australian photographer based in Melbourne/Naarm.
For as long as she can remember, she has felt most at peace holding a camera.
Drawn to analogue photography, with an interest in performative self-portraiture she finally felt she had a way to express how she sees the world. Cramer’s photographic practice is a deeply personal enquiry into love, longing, grief and beauty. She use qualities of abstract expressionism to honour the constant presence of absence, and frequently uses collage and metaphorical imagery, most notably flowers such as roses and lilies, to convey layers of fertility, decay, femininity, and resilience. These symbols, especially the motif of the “Flower”, serve as vessels for both beauty and sorrow.
Her photographs have been exhibited in Australia and internationally, including in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, United States of America, and Japan, and is held in private collections across France, Spain, the UK, USA, Mexico, and Australia. She has been published in FotoNostrum Magazine (Barcelona, 2024) and Eyes on the World (Kamira Institute, Paris, 2025).
She is a proud alumna of the 2025 Penumbra Foundation Long Term Photobook Program (New York), through which she developed her first photobook, FLOWER under ether (December 2025), and in 2026, was selected to attend Chico Review, Montana, USA.
FLOWER under ether (2025) is held in the permanent collection of the State Library Victoria, Melbourne Australia.
“for there cannot be any real beauty without the indolic whiff of decay …”
~Sally Mann
CV
LISA JAYNE CRAMER
Photographic Artist – Melbourne, Australia
Born 1964, Victoria, Australia
AWARDS / GRANTS & SHORTLISTS
2026
Recipient, Ephemere Photobook Grant, Tokyo, Japan — FLOWER under ether
Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize, Photo Access, Canberra, Finalist
Exposure One Awards ‘One Shot Photo Contest’ - Category Conceptual, Silver
2025
Scholarship recipient for the 2025 Long Term Program: The Photobook hosted by Penumbra Foundation, NYC
B&W International Photography Awards Paris, France – Category Self Portrait, Bronze Medal
Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2025, Black and White Category, presented by Fujifilm Australia, Highly Commended
26th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, FotoNostrum Barcelona Spain, Category Self Portrait Series, Honourable Mention
1st Choice Awards, FotoNostrum, Barcelona Spain, Honourable Mention
Perth Centre for Photography COLLECTIVE 2025, Finalist
LOOK! Prize, Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne, Finalist
2024
Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize, Photo Access, Canberra, Second Prize
22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Barcelona Spain, Category Self Portrait Series, Honourable Mention
LOOK! Prize, Museum of Australian Photography Melbourne, Finalist/Staff Favourite
Perth Centre for Photography COLLECTIVE 2024, Finalist
2023
LOOK! Prize, Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne, Finalist
COLLECTIONS
2026
State Library Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, - FLOWER under ether (2025)
2025
Penumbra Foundation Library, New York, USA - FLOWER under ether (2025)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
Photo Access, Canberra ACT, ‘Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize Exhibition’, 16 July to 15 August
Blue Sky Gallery, Centre for Photographic Arts Oregon, 50th Anniversary Online Exhibition, Show of Hands
BLACK & WHITE International Photography Awards Exhibition, ONE ART SPACE, 23 Warren St, New York, June 26 to 28
The Ephemere Photobook Exhibition, Kyoto Japan, April 18 to May 17
Lenscratch, The 2026 ‘Black and White Portrait’ Exhibition, March, online
Lenscratch, The 2026 Lenscratch ‘Love’ Exhibition, February, online
Lenscratch , The 2026 Lenscratch ‘New Beginnings’ Exhibition, January, online
Revela’t Festival, 14th edition, October, Vilassar de Dalt (Barcelona)
Encontros da Imagem International Photography and Visual Arts Festival, Braga, Portugal, 18 September to 1 November
2025
Gallery Joseph Froissart, Paris, France, ‘B&W International Photography Awards Exhibition’
Curtain Call Gallery, Shoreditch London UK, ‘Cluster London Photography Fair’
FotoNostrum Gallery, Barcelona Spain, ‘The 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition’ (pt 2)
Perth Centre for Photography, Fremantle WA, COLLECTIVE 2025
Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne VIC, ‘LOOK! Exhibition’
FotoNostrum Gallery, ‘1st Choice Awards Exhibition’, Barcelona Spain
2024
Photo Access, Canberra ACT, ‘Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize Exhibition’
FotoNostrum Gallery, Barcelona Spain, ‘The 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Award Exhibition’ (pt 1)
Perth Centre for Photography, Fremantle WA, COLLECTIVE 2024
Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne VIC, ‘LOOK! Exhibition’
2023
CCP x Hahnemühle ‘Summer Salon Exhibition’, Melbourne VIC
Museum of Australian Photography, Melbourne VIC, ‘LOOK! Exhibition’
PORTFOLIO REVIEWS & MENTORSHIPS
2026
Selected Artist, The Chico Review, Montana, USA, 2026
PUBLICATIONS / BIBLIOGRAPHY
2026
WE ARE Magazine _ The Royal Photographic Society Women in Photography April 2026 edition _ Mother (moving image) feature, Mother (still image) feature.
2025
FLOWER under ether, dummy book - December 2025
Featured artist in Eyes on the World publication, Kamira Institute, Paris France, 2025
Featured artist in The FotoNostrum Magazine, FotoNostrum Barcelona, Spain 2024/2025
Artist Interview, 2025 CLUSTER London
EDUCATION
2025
Long Term Program: The Photobook, Penumbra Foundation, NYC
2024
Pinhole Camera workshop, Shea Kirk, Melbourne, Australia
2023
Large Format Camera workshop, Shea Kirk, Melbourne, Australia
2021
Silver Gelatin Darkroom Printing, Ellie Young, Goldstreet Studios, Trentham East, Australia
2020
Seeing Through Photographs, Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, NYC
2016
Creative Photography Certificate, Photography Studies College, Melbourne, Australia
MEMBERSHIPS
Member, National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)
Member, The Royal Photographic Society (RPS)