Background
Max Dupain was born on April 22, 1911 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(A collection of outstanding images of Sydney spanning a p...)
A collection of outstanding images of Sydney spanning a period of more than seventy years, and showcasing the work of two generations of the Dupain family.
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Sydney-Max-Dupain/dp/1741101530/?tag=2022091-20
Max Dupain was born on April 22, 1911 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Max Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography. He later joined the Photographic Society of New South Wales, where he was taught by Justin Newlan; after completing his tertiary studies, he worked for Cecil Bostock in Sydney.
In 1943 Max Dupain established his own studio, becoming a partner in 1947 with process engravers Hartland and Hyde. He was frequently published in The Home magazine, and by 1938 was a leading commercial photographer in fashion, advertising and portraiture. In 1943-1944 Max Dupain served in the army as a photographer in the camouflage unit, spending time in New Guinea before transferring to the Department of Information in 1945 to undertake the assignment of photographing Australia for promotional purposes. He returned to his studio in 1947, switching his emphasis to industrial and architectural work.
(A collection of outstanding images of Sydney spanning a p...)
Quotations:
"Modern photography must do more than entertain, it must incite thought and by its clear statements of actuality, cultivate a sympathetic understanding of men and women and the life they live and create."
"I find that my whole life, if it is going to be of any consequence in photography, has to be devoted to that place where I have been born, reared and worked, thought, philosophised and made pictures to the best of my ability. And that's all I need".
Max Dupain was a founding member of the Contemporary Camera Group (1938), an affiliate of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
Quotes from others about the person
Gael Newton has written about Dupain (Silver and Grey, 1980), "His early work was in the pictorial style, but in 1933 Dupain began to photograph industrial forms such as silos in a way totally alien to the pictorialists. The new images stressed geometric form and were outlined and accentuated by clear hard light rather than romanticised by atmospheric effects. . . . Dupain rejected the romantic preoccupation with picturesque subjects and turned to developing a style in tune with contemporary life in the machine age."
In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, Max Dupain married Olive Cotton (also a photographer) but they divorced soon after. A decade later, Dupain married Diana Illingworth and subsequently they had a daughter Danina and a son Rex, who also became a photographer.