Ships and Figureheads

An exhibition of fine art photography celebrating the intersection of maritime history and the human form.

Images: Christopher de Doby
Images: Christopher de Doby

Featuring award-winning abstract nudes alongside legendary 20th-century yachts, Christopher de Doby’s stunning images evoke the ancient tradition of the ship’s figurehead – a guardian against the elements.

Featuring: Tuiga (1909), Hispania (1909) The Lady Anne (1911) and many more of the most iconic historic sailing ships ever built under full sail.

In antiquity, the bow of the ship was a place of ritual. Carved wooden figures, often open to the elements, were affixed to vessels to ward off evil spirits and guarantee a safe return. Award-winning photographer French-Australian Christopher de Doby reinterprets this ancient maritime superstition through a captivating series of black and white abstract nudes. And with grand portraits of historic yachts, this collection is a masterclass in elegance, heritage and the enduring power of the feminine silhouette.

Opening night on Wednesday 16 April from 6pm.  RSVP essential to cd@cdphotoart.com

Gallery open Wednesday to Saturday 3-8 pm

Samples of the photographs on display here:  https://cddphotos.zenfolio.com/p101355153

Christopher started his own photographic studio in Sydney when he was only 20-year-old, covering a broad range of fields from fashion, portraiture, commercial and industrial photography.

During the following decade, he developed one of the largest and most successful photographic businesses in Australia which included four studios, a commercial film processing lab, a chain of retail photographic stores and a model agency.

Christopher sold all his photographic businesses to pursue his dream of sailing the South Pacific on his 75' sailing yacht. After many adventures during the following 8 years, including luxury charters to well-known identities, surviving two cyclones and a sinking, he returned to dry land to create several companies in property development, travel, public relations and marketing.

 

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

February

Melbourne: 28 Nov 2025 – 26 May 2026. The exhibition celebrates the wide-ranging photographic practices of more than eighty women artists working between 1900 and 1975.

Sydney: Until 11 April. Unfinished Business brings together the voices of 30 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities from remote, regional, and urban communities across Australia.

Canberra: Until 6 Sept 2026. Trent Parke’s photographic series The Christmas tree bucket 2006–09 is a tender and darkly humorous portrayal of his extended family coming together to celebrate Christmas.

Melbourne: 11 Feb – 25 April 2026. Familial brings together six international artists whose work navigates the emotional and psychological terrain of family.

March

Sydney: Until 7 Feb 2027. From his archive of more than 200,000 images, Close Up celebrates the historic moments and pivotal people he famously captured.

Melbourne: 5 March – 7 August 2026. Between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, artist and social documentary photographer Viva Gibb (1945-2017) documented the suburbs of North and West Melbourne, where she lived.

Melbourne: 7 March – 24 May 2026. Photos of flowers from the NGA collection by prominent photographers drawn such as Robert Mapplethorpe and four groundbreaking Australian photographers.

Melbourne: 10 March – 5 May 2026. TOPshots is an annual celebration of emerging photo-media artists selected from a large pool of entries.

April

Sydney: 9 April event 6-9pm. Unfinished is a free event to show/see photo-based work in progress or recently completed personal projects run by photographers for photographers.