Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection

Next date: Saturday, 21 March 2026 | 10:00 AM to 04:00 PM

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Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection brings Dupain’s architectural images of Harry Seidler’s modernist buildings alongside Adam’s landscapes of the American West for the first time. It is an compelling and illuminating pairing.

‘The point is that photography is at its best when it shows a thing clearly and simply. To fake is in bad taste.’

Max Dupain

‘One must learn to see as the camera sees … Think about the image; not only the scene before you.’

Ansel Adams

Max Dupain (Australia, 1911–1992) and Ansel Adams (USA, 1902–1984) shaped the visual imagination of their respective nations through the lens of modernist photography. Though working on opposite sides of the Pacific, they shared a profound commitment to formal clarity, tonal precision, and the expressive potential of light.

Adams photographs of the American West are amongst the most recognised images ever made, emblematic of a powerful but complicated story of pioneering ambition and manifest destiny. He became a global superstar known also for his important role in the conservation movement. He received many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, for ‘his efforts to preserve this country's wild and scenic areas, both on film and on earth.’

Dupain established his career in Gadigal Nura/Sydney in the 1930s, developing a modernist language influenced by photographers working in Europe and the United States. Later in his career, Dupain focused his attention on architectural photography, known for his collaborative practice working over almost four decades with the prominent modernist architect Harry Seidler. Like Adams, Dupain was nationally recognised: he remains the only Australian photographer to have been made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), the country’s highest honour.

Both photographers sought to define national identity through image-making. Dupain captured a newly modern Australia—while Adams elevated the American wilderness into a site of the spiritual sublime. Each were firmly committed to working in black and white, eschewing sentimentality for a visual language that prioritised structure, balance, and control.

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection is part of a program of touring exhibitions drawing on the National Gallery's outstanding photography collection. The program is fully supported by the Bowness Family Foundation, and sees some of the most significant photographs by Australian and International artists tour to regional venues across Australia. The program seeks to elevate awareness of the significant cultural influence of photography in Australia, and to provide communities with access to the best of the history of Australian and international photography.

Curator: Anne O'Hehir, Curator, Photography

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.