The images on the walls of the Art Gallery of NSW's latest exhibition, The Photograph and Australia, span the whole history of photography, from daguerreotypes to digital. But there's one important historical chapter missing: Instagram. Love it or love to hate it, that contemporary mode of communicating the expansiveness of a harbour horizon and the calorific-ness of a weekend brunch has made photography more central to our lives than ever. And that's why it has a place in the AGNSW's exhibition: in the #myaustraliais Instagram competition. Look beyond the walls of The Photograph and Australia using the #myaustraliais hashtag and you'll find a repository of the nation's visual riches. From latte art and sculptural waves to redback spiders and improbably long bus queues, the growing collage has been built by people answering the question 'what does Australia really mean to you?'. But what really caught my attention and compelled me to tell my friends to enter? There's a $2000 Canon e-store voucher in it for the person with the best photograph. That gets you halfway to an EOS 5D Mark III, your go-to professional DSLR for photos and video. Or you can outright buy the mid-range EOS 70D and still have change for accessories. A $200 dining voucher for CHISWICK at the Gallery and a Photograph and Australia merchandise pack complete your prize. To be in the running, you just upload your photo to Instagram with the tags @artgalleryofnsw and #myaustraliais. Meanwhile, even though I'm not eligible to win ("companies associated with the promotion are ineligible to enter the competition", boo), I'm throwing in my iconographic two cents repping Migrant Australia. #MyAustraliaIs a place where every Christmas is different. Our tree = Croatian traditional hearts x Mid Eastern hand blown glass x Australian minimalism. @artgalleryofnsw A photo posted by Rima Sabina Aouf (@rimasabina) on Apr 12, 2015 at 6:45pm PDT Here's another I prepared earlier. Nefertiti's first outing. #operaharbour #nofilter #umwow A photo posted by Concrete Playground Sydney (@concreteplayground) on Mar 25, 2015 at 2:59am PDT And here's one our deputy editor Shannon editor took at the Secret Garden festival. Massage train @secretgardenfestival. @artgalleryofnsw #myaustraliais #secretgardenfestival A photo posted by Shannon Connellan (@shanconnellan) on Apr 12, 2015 at 5:49pm PDT Because Australians are all about caring and sharing and festivals. This is such an easy contest to enter; almost anything can justifiably be tagged #myaustraliais. But our favourite images are both aesthetically wow and really do say something about Australia. 1 x 1 boxes of visual poetry, each one. Like this flyscreen cam: #MyAustraliaIs A photo posted by @connieparker13 on Apr 11, 2015 at 10:33pm PDT This classic Bondi: Rays And Shine #bondi #bondibeach #autumn #light #sun #beach #beachlife #beautiful #seeaustralia #ilovesydney #sydney #Australia #igs_oceania #Ig_Australia #ocean #tv_sea #sunset #love #MadeOfOcean #TLPicks #nikon #mynikonlife #myaustraliais # @artgalleryofnsw #anchorandcrew A photo posted by Rosie English (@rosiebondi) on Apr 11, 2015 at 5:36am PDT This beachside queue for the bus: Sydney buses are never on time ???? @folkmagazine @instagood #featuremeinstagood #fujiaus #magichour #ilovesydney #livefolk #liveauthentic #createexploretakeover #createexplore #myaustraliais #visualsoflife #allhailsymmetry #ink361 #vscogoodshot #vscogood_ #awesupply A photo posted by langshton (@langshton) on Apr 9, 2015 at 2:11pm PDT This carved aquamarine: #surfsup #barrels #waves #ocean #sand #sun #shore #longweekend #easter #boomerang #midnorthcoast #nsw #lifeisbetteratthebeach #setitfree @artgalleryofnsw #myaustraliais A photo posted by SET IT FREE PHOTOGRAPHY (@setitfreephotography) on Apr 7, 2015 at 3:20pm PDT These camels: “One who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure” #WHPcandid ???????? (04.06.15) A photo posted by France N. (@furansu) on Apr 7, 2015 at 9:07am PDT This cheeky composition: ???? Double Take // #WHPcandid @instagram @artgalleryofnsw #artgalleryofnsw #myaustraliais #streetdreamsmag #peoplescreatives #createexplore #createexploretakeover #finditliveit #skrwt #doyouskrwt #allhailsymmetry #welltravelled #citylimitless #herschelsupply #vscocam A photo posted by Benjamin (@itchban) on Apr 4, 2015 at 12:37am PDT This weather scene: Sydney and it's many shades of grey. A photo posted by Yvonne (@halle5462) on Mar 29, 2015 at 2:42am PDT Though, look, it's not all positive. There are always abandoned dreams: A photo posted by @ieyeaye on Mar 21, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT Those details again: to enter, take a photo of what Australia really is to you and upload it to Instagram with the tags @artgalleryofnsw and #myaustraliais. Entries will be judged by Judy Annear, the Gallery’s senior curator of photographs, and Isobel Parker Philip, the Gallery’s assistant curator of photographs. The competition closes May 17, 2015, with the winner announced on May 20, 2015. See the AGNSW website for terms and conditions.