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Max Dupain: A Portrait
From multi-award-winning writer Helen Ennis comes the first ever biography of the photographer Max Dupain, the most influential Australian photographer of the 20th century and creator of many iconic images that have passed into our national imagination.
WINNER of the National Biography Award 2026
One of The Guardian's 25 Best Australian Books of 2024
Highly Commended at the ACT Literary Awards 2025
Shortlisted for the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award 2025
Longlisted for the 2026 Magarey Medal
Max Dupain (1911-1992) was a major cultural figure in Australia, and at the forefront of the visual arts in a career spanning more than fifty years. During this time he produced a number of images now regarded as iconically Australian. He championed modern photography and a distinctive Australian approach.
To date, Dupain has been seen mostly in one-dimensional, limited and limiting terms - as exceptional, as super masculine, as an Australian hero. But this landmark biography approaches him as a complex and contradictory figure who, despite the apparent certitude of his photographic style, was filled with self-doubt and anxiety. Dupain was a Romantic and a rationalist and struggled with the intensity of his emotions and reactions. He wanted simplicity in his art and life, but found it difficult to attain. He never wanted to be ordinary.
Examining the sources of his creativity - literature, art, music - alongside his approaches to masculinity, love, the body, war, and nature, Max A Portrait reveals a driven artist, one whose relationship to his work has been described as 'ferocious' and 'painful to watch'. Photographer David Moore, a long-term friend, said he 'needed to photograph like he needed to breathe. It was part of him. It gave him his drive and force in life.'
'In this deeply thought book ... [Ennis'] thoughts subtly accumulate into a complex portrait of a man and a rich picture of Australia ... Revelatory.' The Conversation
'This handsome biography ... a more complex man and career are revealed in lucid prose by Ennis, a leading historian of photography.' Guardian
WINNER of the National Biography Award 2026
One of The Guardian's 25 Best Australian Books of 2024
Highly Commended at the ACT Literary Awards 2025
Shortlisted for the Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award 2025
Longlisted for the 2026 Magarey Medal
Max Dupain (1911-1992) was a major cultural figure in Australia, and at the forefront of the visual arts in a career spanning more than fifty years. During this time he produced a number of images now regarded as iconically Australian. He championed modern photography and a distinctive Australian approach.
To date, Dupain has been seen mostly in one-dimensional, limited and limiting terms - as exceptional, as super masculine, as an Australian hero. But this landmark biography approaches him as a complex and contradictory figure who, despite the apparent certitude of his photographic style, was filled with self-doubt and anxiety. Dupain was a Romantic and a rationalist and struggled with the intensity of his emotions and reactions. He wanted simplicity in his art and life, but found it difficult to attain. He never wanted to be ordinary.
Examining the sources of his creativity - literature, art, music - alongside his approaches to masculinity, love, the body, war, and nature, Max A Portrait reveals a driven artist, one whose relationship to his work has been described as 'ferocious' and 'painful to watch'. Photographer David Moore, a long-term friend, said he 'needed to photograph like he needed to breathe. It was part of him. It gave him his drive and force in life.'
'In this deeply thought book ... [Ennis'] thoughts subtly accumulate into a complex portrait of a man and a rich picture of Australia ... Revelatory.' The Conversation
'This handsome biography ... a more complex man and career are revealed in lucid prose by Ennis, a leading historian of photography.' Guardian
544 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2024
About the author
Helen Ennis
18 books8 followersHelen Ennis is one of Australia’s leading photography curators, historians and writers.
She joined the Department of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia in 1981 and was Curator of International and Australian Photography at the National Gallery of Australia from 1985-92. She has extensive experience as an independent curator and writer specializing in the area of Australian photographic practice.
Her curatorial projects include Mirror with a memory: Photographic portraiture in Australia (National Portrait Gallery, 2000); a retrospective exhibition of Olive Cotton’s photographs (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000); and the two-part exhibition In a New Light: Australian Photography 1850s-2000 (National Library of Australia 2003 and 2004). Her exhibition of the work of European émigré photographer Margaret Michaelis was shown at the National Gallery of Australia in 2005.
Helen’s publications include Olive Cotton (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000), Man with a camera: Frank Hurley overseas (National Library of Australia, 2002), Intersections: Photography, history and the National Library of Australia (National Library of Australia, 2004) and the award-winning biography Margaret Michaelis: love, loss and photography (National Gallery of Australia, 2005). Her book Photography and Australia was published by Reaktion, London, in 2007.
In 2007 she curated Reveries: Photography and Mortality for the National Portrait Gallery and in 2008 curated A Modern Vision: Charles Bayliss, Photographer, 1850-1897 for the National Library of Australia.
Helen is a certified valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
She is currently Associate Professor, Art Theory, and Graduate Convenor, Research at the Australian National University School of Art
(http://helenennis.com/)
She joined the Department of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia in 1981 and was Curator of International and Australian Photography at the National Gallery of Australia from 1985-92. She has extensive experience as an independent curator and writer specializing in the area of Australian photographic practice.
Her curatorial projects include Mirror with a memory: Photographic portraiture in Australia (National Portrait Gallery, 2000); a retrospective exhibition of Olive Cotton’s photographs (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000); and the two-part exhibition In a New Light: Australian Photography 1850s-2000 (National Library of Australia 2003 and 2004). Her exhibition of the work of European émigré photographer Margaret Michaelis was shown at the National Gallery of Australia in 2005.
Helen’s publications include Olive Cotton (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000), Man with a camera: Frank Hurley overseas (National Library of Australia, 2002), Intersections: Photography, history and the National Library of Australia (National Library of Australia, 2004) and the award-winning biography Margaret Michaelis: love, loss and photography (National Gallery of Australia, 2005). Her book Photography and Australia was published by Reaktion, London, in 2007.
In 2007 she curated Reveries: Photography and Mortality for the National Portrait Gallery and in 2008 curated A Modern Vision: Charles Bayliss, Photographer, 1850-1897 for the National Library of Australia.
Helen is a certified valuer for the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
She is currently Associate Professor, Art Theory, and Graduate Convenor, Research at the Australian National University School of Art
(http://helenennis.com/)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 17, 2015
Here are some of Dupain's iconic images accompanied by a biographical essay and an interview conducted by Helen Ennis. My favourites are Sharks at Blackhead Beach 1937, Street at Central Sydney 1939 (which inspired my choice of cover for my novel Crossing Paths) and Leila Roussova 1937.
October 24, 2025
Max Dupain was a driven artist, and obviously had to be very selfish to pursue his ideals. His story doesn't sound as though he had a lot of fun, maybe in his early 20s but later too fixed on himself.
April 29, 2025
A stunning photographer deserves nothing less than a stunning biography and this is it. Dupain was one of our greatest artists who crammed much into his 50-year career.
His images reflect his personality and his passion. His life was filled with emotion, struggle and striving to be at the pinnacle of his artform.
With great artists, the art and their life are interlinked, one does not exist without the other. This comes through strongly in the book. His heart and soul are the photography, and the photography was his heart and soul.
Fabulous book.
His images reflect his personality and his passion. His life was filled with emotion, struggle and striving to be at the pinnacle of his artform.
With great artists, the art and their life are interlinked, one does not exist without the other. This comes through strongly in the book. His heart and soul are the photography, and the photography was his heart and soul.
Fabulous book.
September 7, 2026
It took me a couple of weeks to get through this meticulously researched door-stopper. It is somehow quite a depressing read. Dupain's workaholism, obsessiveness and conventional tastes in literature and music make him a difficult subject to warm towards. I most enjoyed the inserts of single photos and the accompanying analysis of those images.
January 27, 2025
It is difficult for me to imagine that this biography could have been any better than it is. Such insights into Dupain’s character and in particular the contrast of his assured images and his fragile self esteem. The concluding chapters documenting his ageing and death are poignant and sensitive.
partially-read
August 26, 2026I made a start on this but I really don't have time to read a chunky bio like this at the moment, so I've taken it back to the library and will borrow it again at some time in the future.
I don't rate books I don't finish.
I don't rate books I don't finish.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews