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Famous Australian Photographers

Should have mentioned my favourite landscape photographer, Peter Dombrovkis- his love of the Tasmanian wilderness is so obvious in his work.
 
tony lockerbie said:
Should have mentioned my favourite landscape photographer, Peter Dombrovkis- his love of the Tasmanian wilderness is so obvious in his work.
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Yes, sad that he passed away before his time. He had a lot of great images, and I'm sure he would have done many more.
 

His shot of Shackleton's ship in the antarctic night, shot by powder flares while marooned by ice and with its end being inevitable is awe inspiring. For anyone into Antarctic expeditions the book "The Shackleton Voyages" is well worth getting. History has lent even his ordinary shots of men, ship's cats a special significance when you think waht he was recording and what it took to save those shots for posterity. Brilliant.

pentaxuser
 
Max Pam is a name that immediately comes to mind. Some beautiful books --layout and photos-- to his credit.

Best.

Mark
foto-r3.com
 
We're a sad little lot on the whole, really. Perhaps too affluent, too comfortable and too unbothered for our own good. We do seem to faire reasonably well in cinema but largely still photography tends to be derivative and unexciting. A bit embarrassing really. Even the Kiwis seem to beat the socks off us in percentage terms. George Silk and Brian Brake at LIFE magazine spring to mind.
__________________
Walter Glover
Sydney, Australia
Thanks for the kind words about NZ photography and this is reflected in current professional photography as NZ has won this years Trans Tasman comp.
To be fair George Silk made his name working with the Australian Army during WW11 before going to America.
But Ken Duncan is a Kiwi as well from Christchurch were some of his family still live.
Richard Poole.
 
There were some fantastic moody images of Sydney streets in UK B&W a couple of months back by Trent Parke of Magnum-well worth a look and hopefully we'll be hearing more from him in the not too distant future.
 
A few years ago my art teacher pointed out Max Dupain's Sunbaker photograph in our textbooks, and went on about the fantastic level of detail of the painting, and his great skill.
No one bothered to correct her, but I did cringe a little when I realised she was teaching Creative Photography this year. I've been looking out for a nice print of it ever since.
 
Someone once told me that the Sunbaker neg is very over exposed & a nightmare to print.
 
Famous Australian Portrait Photographers

The thread on Famous Australian Photographers has fizzled out but I would like some feedback on who are the Famous Australian Portrait Photographers - I'm looking to name a prize after the most famous.
 
Steve Parish, Peter Lik, Ken Duncan & Anne Geddes (Anne Geddes!) :

Nightmares from which I'm trying to escape.

Tony Egan seems on the money to my taste.

BTW Hurley did make compound prints with WW1 shots, but to my knowledge, not the Antarctic pics.

The only Oz photographer with a (regrettably -- digital reproduction from the State Library) on my wall is Cecil Bostock, to whom Max Dupain was apprenticed.

Regards - Ross
 
Ross Chambers said:
Steve Parish, Peter Lik, Ken Duncan & Anne Geddes (Anne Geddes!) :

Nightmares from which I'm trying to escape.

Tony Egan seems on the money to my taste.
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I can't get enough of Ken Duncan; love his work. I visited his gallery twice in the past few weeks.
 
Sorry Robert, I have to side with Ross on the corporate wallpaper and christmas calendar brigade he mentions. It's great to see photography hanging in some boardrooms in Australia but why does it always have to be Ken Duncan - a very successful marketer and businessman but his photographs do not stir my soul. I can appreciate the technical proficiency and vibrant rendition of the landscape but could not live with one on my wall.

I much prefer the two Gordon Undy Pt/Pd contact prints hanging over my bed!
 
RoverThomas said:
The thread on Famous Australian Photographers has fizzled out but I would like some feedback on who are the Famous Australian Portrait Photographers - I'm looking to name a prize after the most famous.
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If this is serious I would contact Alan Davies at the State Library of NSW. I think "most famous" is a dubious designation in any case, but good luck with the search. Do they have to be dead to qualify?
 
Wow, I can't believe 9 pages of this thread over two years and only two mentions of Bill Henson.

Seriously, I absolutely love this guy's work - he's one of exactly two photographers whose work I really would describe as an influence (the other being Joel-Peter Witkin; it helps that I'm clinically nuts .) If you can lay your hands on a copy of Mnemosyne, do so.
 
Richard Poole said:
... largely still photography tends to be derivative and unexciting.
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g'day Richard

i've read/seen similar comments before, what does it mean, plz elaborate

famous (or talented) Aussie photographers - David Moore, Wolfgang Sievers, Trent Parke, Rex Dupain, Bill Bachman, Palani Mohan, Robert Billington, Mark Ray, George Aspinall

Ray
 
Tony Egan said:
Sorry Robert, I have to side with Ross on the corporate wallpaper and christmas calendar brigade he mentions.
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Sorry Tony, but I don't see that at all. Ken Duncan shows a love for Australia in his photos that I've very few places. I was just at his gallery in The Rocks a couple of weeks ago, to see images from his new collection - images of the Kimberly during the wet. I love his work.
 

Sorry Tony,

But this has always been a difference in your opinion and Robert's and mine. You have always shown a preference for B&W and Robert and I have preferred color landscape work.

Rich
 
Thomas Struth a German photographer (b1954) achieved $120,000 for a photograph of the Daintree rainforest in Queensland. Our Australian photographers except perhaps Tracey Moffat and Helmut Newton (German born) and Frank Hurleys Antartic images have not been able to achieve that sort of price. Why havent our photographers achieved international acclaim? Max Dupain was influenced by Harold Cazneaux who was influenced by John Kauffmann who has not rated a mention yet. It seems that few current practising photographers appreciate the significance of the contribution made by our early photographers. Both Cazneaux and Kauffmann exhibited and were recognised internationally. I think Australian photography is a bit of a sleeping giant in the art market. I am delighted to have found this forum.
 
...christine cornish . her work can be seen at stills gallery. she works in b/w.
 
OK um i guess this is risky for me to say I have lots of favorites but there are a few who are special to me in no order.

The first happens to be a member of APUG his user name here is Goldie - he is a wealth of knowledge, always inspiring, and a good friend.

The second is Architectural photographer Brett Boardman Ide rate him as one of the most approachable, friendly and technically mastered photographer in my life.

The third is Commercial Photographer Tony Amos who also has an abundance of knowledge and is a great photographer to work with.

There really are tons more who I really love working with and knowing, But I cant mention them all.
The lab Ive built has made me very fortunate to meet a lot of great people and I feel privileged to know so many great Aussie shooters

Ide also like to comment on Gordon Undy (of point light) and the Bob Kersey (of black mountain) I find them to be heroes in the scene of alternate process in this country.

Oh and one last one which is obscure there is a man called Toby Dixon he is a relatively new photographer but has in his past worked under the wings of such greats as
Ian Butterworth. Toby Dixon I genuinely believe having worked with Toby that he is going to be a BIG name in Australian photography.

~Steve
The Lighthouse Lab
 
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I received the book EO Hoppe's Australia as a Christmas gift and the opening essay refers to Cazneaux having an invitation to Hoppe's 1930 exhibition in his personal papers. There is a suggestion the exhibition and Hoppe's presence and influence helped to confirm Cazneaux's move away from Pictorialism towards a more modernist style.

p.s. "salty", are you going to introduce yourself properly to the forum!?
 
Reply to Tony

Hi Tony sorry for the late response. My interest is collecting photographic ephemera generally. I started with cameras and quickly realised that the image was in my view more important. Also because there was/is a general ignorance about the history of photography Ive been able to pick up some good stuff at bargain prices. I formed the view quite a few years ago that the practice of silver halide photography may have a finite life of about 200 years after which it will be practised only by artists and enthusiasts. Silver images should therefore become eminently collectable. One can form a small collection of the history of photographic processes from daggeurotypes to modern silver images without spending a lot of money. Im just excited about photographs both as art and objects of historical significance.
 

Caz was in his 50s in 1930. He had for many years been producing magnificent work. Spirit of Endurance 1936 cannot in my opinion be viewed as a modernist work but is as iconic as Max Dupains Sunbaker. The building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was probably as instrumental in changing perspectives because of its impact on the skyline. I think old world views required Cazs sympathetic treatment but he was also adaptive in documenting change in a modern style.
 
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