Rennie Ellis: a major and unique archive of private and public portraits of the celebrated Australian photographer, taken by his fellow Australian contemporary artists.

A$17,500 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

A collection of approximately 100 original vintage prints (b/w and colour) spanning the period from the late 1950s to the early 2000s, in various formats up to 250 x 200 mm, plus several later copy prints, all unmounted in individual archival sleeves, and housed in an archival album; the sleeves have briefly captioned labels affixed (written by Manuela Furci of the Rennie Ellis Archive) supplying basic information identifying the photographer and either a location or context, and usually also giving an approximate date; the constant subject in all of these photographs is Rennie Ellis himself, and the majority of the collection comprises a kaleidoscopic mix of private and candid shots of Rennie at work and at play, taken by Rennie (self-portraits) and his circle of friends (often using Rennie s own camera), all talented photographers in their own right and including (most prominently) Robert Ashton, William Yang, Carol Jerrems, Ian Dodd, John Ogden, Ian Macrae, and Peter Milne; the balance of the collection is made up of a smaller number of more formal posed portraits; the condition of the prints is generally very good, with only a few exhibiting some surface damage, cropping marks or other minor blemishes. Some key images in the archive: Carol Jerrems (attributed, using Robert Ashton s camera). Rennie Ellis and Robert Ashton posing in front of a wall of Carol Jerrems photographs (including Vale Street ) at Jerrems Philip Morris Arts Grant Exhibition, Adelaide, 1978. [anon.] R

• Binding: Hardcover

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