We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
Max Dupain / Australia 1911–92 / Sunbaker 1937, printed early 1970s / Gelatin silver photograph / 39.1 x 42.5cm / Purchased 1995. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Max DupainSunbaker 1937
Not Currently on Display
This photograph repeats the motif of the lone male figure which recurs throughout Max Dupain’s work. The work derives its iconic strength from a combination of powerful imagery. The experience of sunbathing is captured by the intense privacy of space depicted in the image. Dupain’s image does not conform to the nationalistic, beckoning, striding or saluting image of Australian-ness often employed during the 1920s; however, it does take part in the 1930’s notion of ‘the body beautiful’.
The work is read and recognised as an iconic image of Australia, perhaps one of the most widely recognised Australian photographs. As a photographer, Dupain rejected the romantic preoccupation with picturesque subjects and turned to developing a style in tune with contemporary life in the machine age in the 1920s and 1930s. Sunbaker reads as a contrived, compact study of organic form, as well as a candid portrait of Australian beach culture.
Max Dupain was born in Sydney in 1911. He became interested in photography around the age of 14, and after leaving Sydney Grammar School in 1930, he began a three-year apprenticeship in Cecil Bostock’s photography studio. He also began exhibiting around this time. During the 1930s, Dupain pioneered modern photography in Australia.
By 1938, he had a reputation as a leading commercial photographer in the fields of fashion, advertising and portraiture. Between 1943 and 1944, Dupain was a war photographer, before transferring to the Department of Information, where he undertook a promotional photography assignment focusing on Australia’s postwar recovery, including the experience of immigration.
Max Dupain enjoys an unrivalled position in the history of Australian photography, with his name inextricably linked to images signifying the Australian ethos.
Discussion Questions
1. Look at this photograph and then close your eyes. What do you find yourself wondering about?
2. Comment on the relationship between the apparent sense of stillness and relaxation in Sunbaker with the artwork’s status as an iconic Australian photograph.
Activities
Discuss the qualities you consider to be definitively Australian. Try to capture these qualities in an artwork, carefully selecting the media to best represent them.