Last week we travelled across Melbourne to the Bayside Art Gallery in Brighton to see the National Gallery of Australia’s travelling exhibition Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection. The exhibition opened 20th June and is open till 30 August 2026.
Australian photographer
We have been updating our web site and also adding in a few more photographers.
In this case, a new page for Sandy Edwards — click here
We have uploaded information and links to resources to our web site on Pegg Clarke.
Occasionally the research for an essay heads off into an interesting and unexpected direction and sometimes this trajectory leads to loads of fun stuff.
Yesterday, Thursday 26th March, at Douglas Stewart Fine Books (Armadale, Melbourne)
I had the honour of launching the delux edition of Mervyn Bishop’s biography by Tim Dobbyn.
Continue reading Black, White + Colour: a biography of Mervyn Bishop
Not to be missed… Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light at the National Gallery of Victoria until 3 May 2026.
Thirty one years ago I included comments about Tracey Moffatt’s 1994 series Beauty within an essay I wrote for Fever Pitch, the 1995 monograph on Tracey’s artworks. In 2024 as a cultural gift valuer I had the opportunity to revisit the Beauty series.
I have uploaded an essay on Max Dupain’s Shattered Intimacy 1936. I had been intending to write this essay for many years. Let’s be honest — decades!
I have uploaded an essay on a wonderful Polixeni Papapetrou photograph that only recently arrived into our collection and now hangs where we see it every morning while having our tea/ coffee. click here for the essay
I have revised and added to an essay that was previously published in 2022 on Indonesian photography. In revisiting this work I was reminded of Leo Haks, the wonderful collector who we now miss and who was so much at the centre of how this collection came together. I hope to honour him soon with an essay and special online page or two.
My essay on Indonesian photography is online — click here.
I have written and uploaded a brief essay on an aspect of Jack Cato’s character portraits. This has been added to the special pages on Cato we have online (link below).
This task reminded me that there are other aspects of Cato’s photography that I have talked about and maybe need to also put down into another short essay or two.
Here’s a link to the ‘characters’ piece — click here
and also the link to our Jack Cato set of online resources.
I have uploaded a piece about a painting I bought in 2024. It is a self portrait c1941 by Dorothy Bradford 1920 — 2016. Click here for my piece on this artist.
I have uploaded a piece, written from our new home in Melbourne in May 2025, about life on the beach in Sydney 1964. click here
I have revisited, revised and uploaded a piece I wrote about Max Dupain in 1993.
Click here for that essay.
Hanging on our wall are two photographs taken by Wesley Stacey at The Hermitage — located north east of Melbourne. This was J.W. Lindt’s property with a guesthouse and extensive gardens. I have uploaded a piece about these two works. Click here.
With the new interest in 1970s Australian photography, I remembered this exhibition that went to San Diego in 1995. Click here for my piece on this.
IWD 2025 — searching for peace. The image above by Daisy Wu. In these troubles times, we need to be positive and seek peace and harmony. Caption for the photograph: All quiet on the western front, 1955. Click here for more
I have uploaded to our web site a piece on Carol Eyerman, a woman photographer who may have been overlooked in our photo histories despite her significant body of work with LIFE and others. Click here.
I have uploaded a piece about one of my most cherished photographs, Ruth Bernhard’s 1946 Dead Sparrow — click here
This afternoon (Saturday 7 Dec) I had the pleasure of launching at the Museum of Australian Photography Stephen Zagala’s beautiful photography book — Imaging A Real Australia — about Australian documentary photography 1950 — 1980.
We have updated the information on our website on Carol Jerrems. Loads of links.
Being in Melbourne has brought about a few pleasant surprises. Who would have thought that we would be researching early 20th century Australia women painters — who were not photographers.
There are some beautiful places to visit and Victoria’s State Library is definitely one of them. Continue reading Research in the State Library of Victoria
We had a fun day today doing some research. We headed across Melbourne to Monash University Clayton Campus to view a document for a colleague. This is what we like doing now that we are in Melbourne — doing research favours for colleagues.
A wonderful photograph by New York photographer, John Albok (1894–1982)
Another cherished photograph that sits on our walls in our Melbourne home.
More on this photograph — click here.
A much loved work by Elaine Campaner (1969–2020) that has just taken pride of place on our walls in our new home in Melbourne. More on this work — click here.
This piece was a difficult piece to write. The requirement was to survey 19th century photography across the Pacific in a few hundred words. Many hours were spent reducing the entry and making decisions on what to leave out — reluctantly! If I ever find the time I may revisit this and make it a much longer piece with all the extras inserted back in. Wishful thinking maybe? Here’s the original piece.
Have revisited a previous article looking at the aesthetic connections to other mediums and how image makers respond to their era. I may follow up with some thoughts on how this applies in contemporary practice — today. Click here for my 1990s piece.
When we moved, we dispersed some of our collections and said to ourselves that we should not buy any more. Then we saw this wonderful new work by Rod McNicol.
A previous notice for this was posted on Facebook — but their algorithm removed it. We have a theory. Click here for the original piece on our website
A much loved work by Elaine Campaner (1969–2020) that has just taken pride of place on our walls in our new home in Melbourne. More on this work — click here.
Photography collections can be fun! I love good ‘table top’ works and we have a number in our collection. This is one — and I have written a small piece about it — click here
I have uploaded a piece about our visit to see the Anzac Days, the Colin Abbott exhibition at Magnet Galleries in Docklands, Melbourne.
Click here for the piece on our web site.
An update on the previous article: Canberra colleagues have identified that the girl in the centre of the photograph is holding a Kodak Brownie Starlet — ‘Made in Australia’.
Now if only we knew who she was and does she have a photo of Robert McFarlane taking her photograph!
I have uploaded a short piece about a Robert McFarlane photograph in our collection, Crowd lining the street on Anzac Day at Martin Place, Sydney, 1964.
Click here for the piece on our web site
Following my research, collection acquisitions and exhibition on Southeast Asian photography while at the National Gallery of Australia, in 2014 I wrote a piece about Hélène Hoppenot and 1930s women modernist photographers in Southeast Asia. Till now this essay has been unpublished. It is now online — click here — more or less unchanged from the 2014 version with a few notes and links added.
Merry Christmas from Melbourne, our new home city.
We have been extra busy! A couple of months ago the decision was made to move to Melbourne this year. Maybe this was far too optimistic — but we are going for it!
I have uploaded a page about the Women:s Art Register and their very handy publication Leaving Your Legacy: A Guide for Australian Artists.
The guide is a comprehensive starting point — and the organisation is definitely worth supporting. Click here.
I have unearthed an essay from 1976 which was a commentary about photo-history books available at the time.
In 2017 The Asia Art Society of Australia (TAASA) hosted a seminar of East West Chic.
I presented a talk on Camera Chic based on a collection we had put together – with fun pictures from Asian studio portraiture. The collection highlighted the fusion of East and West evident in dress, accessories, and studio backdrops. Click here for more
Make sure you see the link to the powerpoint slides with loads of photographs to enjoy.
A new upload to my blog about Parting With Your Art.
This time about a friend’s experience of parting with her library plus a tale from me about all those plastic folders. Click here.
Have uploaded a page about my collection of photographer’s greeting cards that has been placed with the AGNSW Library — click here
https://www.facebook.com/theARTMUSEum.PaulCostigan/posts/635188293479667
As listed: Dr Anne Mary Gray AM
A new research book has been published by the National Gallery of Singapore. It contains essays on Southeast Asian art by 25 scholars.
I was given the honour by the NGS of being one the contributing scholars.
The book is available from the NGS shop and through their website — click here.
Back in 1996, Philip Bentley, Melbourne historian, wrote a thesis on the history of the Melbourne photographers, Group M.
Curated by Ashley Lumb and Laura McLean — click on image.
This is an exhibition at photoaccess (Canberra) curated by Ashley Lumb and Laura McLean.
click on image for Straits Times news notice — or here for the museum link
click on image for news on exhibition — or here to link to ACM
click here — for a story on the presence of females amongst the abstract expressionists.
Click on the image above for the link to Polixeni’s web site and..
The September 2016 issue of Artlink is available. Click on image for more
Click on the image for the link to the 2016 Auckland Photography Festival
click on the image for the new series, Stardust, by Anna Carey.
Click on the image to see the 2016 series by Michael Cook — Mother.
click on image above for the story about this very successful new national gallery.
Open Call — Singapore International Photography Festival 2016 — click on graphic above
Helen Levitt at Laurence Miller
Click on the image above for an article about the exhibition, New Zealnd Photography Collected on at Te Papa in Wellington, NZ.
The Auckland Festival of photography — for news on exhibitions and more — click on the image.
Opening 4th December 2015: The world is beautiful
Click on the image for an article by Sasha Grishin on Andrew
click on image for the Guardian’s story on the exhibition in London
A visit to Rippon Lea (Melbourne) to see the wonderful exhibition of costumes produced by Marion Boyce for the ABC program Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
It with great sadness that we heard that our friend Rose Farrell died recently. There’s a very good piece about Rose written by Robert Nelson — click here.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In and Out of the Studio
Photographic Portraits from West Africa
August 31, 2015–January 3, 2016
Click image for link to the museum — or for ArtDaily — click here
Opening Celebrations announcedStarts 24 November. Complimentary entry for visitors from 24 Nov – 6 Dec 2015. Click on image for link to gallery website.
As art publication struggle along with other hard copy magazines, there’s interesting news about how ARTnews and Art in America are to merge to form the world’s largest art-media company.
An Update on the Australian Centre for Photography (Sydney). There was a story previously about the ACP moving. This was not quite correct. The ACP is not necessarily moving west as all options are still being considered as to where it could be located in the future.
Photographers in Asia — click on image
There’s an announcement online about a new art fair to be held in January at the same time as Art Stage Singapore, Click on the image for more on this.
Hot Gossip: The ACP to move west and will be soon looking for a new Director. The news being circulated around Sydney is that the ACP has made its decision to move from Paddington and to move to the western suburbs, to Parramatta. This will definitely require a change to the organisation and some of its programs.
Is This a Photograph of Vincent Van Gogh? click on image for the story
A great and arguably under-celebrated social documentary collection in the UK is having a major retrospective in its home city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the north-east of England. Forever Amber, celebrating the work of the Amber Film and Photography Collective, opens at the city’s Laing Art Gallery today (27 June-19 September).
Click on image for the notice or click here for the gallery site
an update on Sydney Modern Project — click on image
National Gallery Singapore: A story about doubts about whether an artwork is a fake. Click on the image for more.
A Review worth reading — click on the image — and then get along to the exhibition
Kate Breakey at the Michener Art Museum
Click on image for more
Ian North’s latest exhibition is at the Greenaway Art Gallery, Adelaide, till April 26; Click here for the link to the gallery site. Click here for a review on The Conversation
click on the links below for items of curatorial interest
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra) Exhibition open till 30 August 2015
11 January 1931 – 31 March 2015
Exhibition Notice
A must see exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, till 8 June 2015
ANU Australian Centre on China in the World till 3 April 2015
Trent Parke: Black Rose at the Art Gallery of South Australia (click on image)
This new exhibition space down by the lakeside opened in September 2014. See information below the images — these taken from the first exhibition.
At the end of an exhibition seminar in August at the Monash Gallery of Art, as the NGA Senior Curator of Photography who was about to finish in that role, I handed on the baton and all the challenges to my replacement, the new NGA Senior Curator of Photography (from October), Shaune Lakin (previously The MGA Director).
Opening 13 December 2014 is a retrospective of the work of James Turrell. The NGA had a major work of James Turrell, Within without, installed in 2010 as part of the new gardens off the front entrance a few years ago.
The coming retrospective will offer a five decade survey of this American artist’s works — click here.
Photography Gallery — Gifted artists: Donations by Patrick Corrigan AM
click on the image for the link to the NGA website
I have published online a version of my 1988 book Shades of Light.
This is accessed through my other website, photo-web. One day soon I hope to update this with some images and more links.
Please click here to visit this publication.
