
Sydney
'Without light there is no photography. It is the
inspiration and life-giver to the photographic
image' Max Dupain 1988
Dupain began life, lived and died in Sydney. Throughout his life he travelled
overseas rarely and within Australia only when there were commissioned
photographs to be taken. As a result there are hundred of negatives in the
Exhibition Negative Archive, beginning in the late 1930s, documenting our
Australian cities, mainly Sydney.
He was fascinated, not only with the streets and the bustling commuters but
also with the architecture. The ever-changing Sydney skyline and streetscape
is there in these negatives, over fifty years of our history. The images here
reflect a quieter, smaller city than the present one although one of Dupain's
favourite man-made features, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, still occupies the
city's centre of attention.
Dupain's first motivation in sizing up a photograph was the position of the
light, choosing the best part of the day to give the picture the drama for
which he became known. Also the viewpoint - often the 'birds-eye' perspective
with low raking light. The images shown below are but a minute selection from
the Archive, many more can be seen in the publication, Dupain's Sydney
published by Chapter & Verse in 1999. See the Books section.
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Click picture for close up view
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