Max Dupain – Student Life

max-dupain.png

A new Chau Chak Wing Museum exhibition of work by Max Dupain, one of Australia’s best-known modernist photographers, documents the nation at a crossroads.   

 The photographs in Max Dupain: Student Life were taken at the University of Sydney in the early 1950s, a period of rapid change marked by the politics of the Cold War. Initially, Dupain’s love of architecture drew him to the campus, where he photographed modernist buildings such as the Fisher Library designed by Ken Woolley and Tom O’Mahoney. He grew to love the campus and went on to capture student life. The works in Student Life range from shots of formal dances to fiery protests opposing both communism and the McCarthy-era communist witch-hunt underway in the United States.  

 “These were boom years for the university, and Dupain’s candid studies reveal an increasingly diverse student body, following the post-war influx of refugees, women, and Indian and Asian students, some on the ‘Colombo Plan’ sponsoring Asian students to study in Australia,” said Ann Stephen, Senior Curator of the University Art Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum.  

 “Dupain’s Sydney University album includes modernist aerial views of interiors, such as the Great Hall and the Union’s Holme Building, along with more informal shots from ‘Freshers’ week. There was a degree of formality, with young women dressed in skirts and heels, and the young men in suits and ties.” 

The infamous Petrov Affair of 1954 is among the events highlighted. A float in the University’s annual ‘Commem Day’ parade reenacts the dramatic moment when Evokia Petrov, a Soviet spy in Canberra under the guise of a diplomat who defected to Australia after Josef Stalin’s death, was escorted onto a plane by KGB men. Early anti-nuclear protests are also depicted on a float opposing University of Sydney Professor Harry Messel’s controversial University Nuclear Research Foundation.  

 The first public exhibition of Dupain’s work in recent times, Student Life can be seen through his modernist lens, with several of the images adopting aerial perspectives emphasising geometric forms.  

 The exhibited prints are digital reproductions of vintage silver gelatin photographs from Sydney University album. They were donated to the University by Diana Dupain under the Federal Government’s Cultural Gifts Program 1996 and are now part of the Chau Chak Wing Museum collection. 

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

April

Canberra: 27 Feb until 20 July 2025. The National Library has invited renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers to select some of his favourite images from the Fairfax Photo Archive.

Brisbane: Until 13 July 2025. Amateur Brisbane photographer Alfred Henrie Elliott (1870-1954) extraordinary images lay dormant for decades until they were discovered only recently. This exhibition is curated by seven Brisbane photographers.

Melbourne: 1 March – 25 May 2025. Featuring the work of approximately 60 artists, The Basement brings to light rare vintage prints from the 1960s – 1980s, from students and teachers of the College’s Diploma of Art & Design (Photography).

Sydney: Until 31 Dec 2025. PIX, Australia’s first pictorial news weekly, is brought to life in this exhibition, showcasing its archived images and stories for the very first time.

May

Melbourne: Until 25 May. An exhibition of the mature and recent work of photographer / artists who trained at the ground-breaking Prahran CAE, Melbourne in the 1970s and '80s.

Sydney: 15 May – 19 October. Showcasing 100 incredible images, this remarkable exhibition offers a window into the astonishing variety of life on our planet – and the critical importance of preserving it.

Sydney: Until 14 June. With a career spanning fifty years, his virtuosic artistry continues to unfold in powerful, haunting images that explore the timeless mystery of the human condition.

Melbourne: One off event on Sunday 25 May. Photography Studies College (PSC) is calling artists, photographers, designers and technologists to be part of AI Symposium 2025 Beyond the Lens – unpacking the creative and cultural impacts of AI.

Perth: From 31 May – 28 Sept 2025. Featuring 85 works from three major series – Deep Springs, Overpass, and Cross Country – the exhibition spans twelve years of Contis’s evolving photographic practice.

June

Adelaide: 7 June – 16 August. Drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, this photographic exhibition captures the experience of lives lived through dance.