Girl with mirror
1938
Medium
gelatin silver photograph
Measurements
31.8 × 29.9 cm (image)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased from Admission Funds, 1992
© The estate of Olive Cotton
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
Olive Cotton created this image while assisting her colleague and then partner Max Dupain on location at beaches around Sydney. According to Cotton, when Dupain was shooting fashion photographs, she had the freedom to create her own images while the model was ‘waiting her turn to be photographed by Max’. Dupain’s camera tripod cast ‘long slanting lines of shadow’ against the sand. While its creation was incidental, this photograph demonstrates Cotton’s eye for composition and her mastery of light and shade, emphasising the graphic elements of the scene.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in pencil l.l.: Girl with mirror
inscribed in pencil l.r.: Olive Cotton
inscribed in pencil l.r.: '38
Accession Number
PH201-1992
Department
Australian Photography
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest