Hal Missingham
(Australia 08 Dec 1906–07 Apr 1994)
- Title
- Surf carnival, Cronulla
- Year
- 1968
printed 1978 - Media category
- Photograph
- Materials used
- gelatin silver photograph
- Dimensions
-
38.1 x 26.3cm image; 50.7 x 40.5cm sheet
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Purchased 1978
- Accession number
- 143.1978
- Copyright
- © Hal Missingham Estate
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Hal Missingham often holidayed at his beach house at Garie in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, not far from Cronulla. In 1970 he published ‘Close focus’ a book of photographic details of rocks, pools, sand and driftwood. As a beachcomber and observer of beach culture Missingham delighted in his immediate environment. ‘Surf carnival, Cronulla’ is a quintessential Australian scene, one that frames an important aspect of national identity and culture. As passive observers, the 1960s was a time when many girls were still ‘minding the towels’ for the boys who surfed or competed in carnivals. Barricaded from the beach and its male activity the young women in bikinis are oblivious to the photographer who has foregrounded their relaxed tanned bodies behind the wire as they in turn observe and discuss the surf lifesavers in formation at the water’s edge. Although a beach is accessible for the majority of Australians and is now an accepted egalitarian space where women body-surf, ride surfboards and compete along with beachgoers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, Surf carnival, Cronulla’ suggests a specific demography.
© Art Gallery of New South Wales Photography Collection Handbook, 2007
- Bibliography (2)
-
7079 (Editor), Photography: Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, 2007, 188 (illus.), 205 (illus.).
Linda Slutzkin (Australia, d.2005) (Author), On the beach, Sydney, 1982, 22 (illus.). catalogue no: 19
- Exhibition history (4)
-
On the Beach, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 08 Dec 1982–28 Dec 1982.
Four Photographers, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 02 Jun 1990–19 Aug 1990.
Fine and mostly sunny: photographs from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 28 Sep 1991–01 Dec 1991.
The artist in a director: the art of directors of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 13 Feb 2008–07 Mar 2008.
