Multi-award-winning Australian film-maker David Parker will open a unique exhibition of movie stills photography at Focal Point Gallery in Geelong in February.
Parker is best known for writing, producing and filming Australian classic movies Malcolm, Amy, The Big Steal and Matching Jack. He has 21 credits as cinematographer or director of photography, twelve as producer and six as writer.
But prior to his directing work, he was the stills photographer on 18 Australian films, including The Man from Snowy River, Burke and Wills, Heatwave, Phar Lap and High Tide, as well as the TV mini-series A Town Like Alice.
Parker now runs Cascade Films with his wife Nadia, who is also an award-winning director and producer.
Parker said he was thrilled to open the exhibition, Stills Alive – The Magic of the Movies, in Geelong.
Stills photography is a very specialised line of work, with the photographer responsible for capturing images that tell the story of the film, its production, crew and cast.
Parker said the role of the stills photographer was “absolutely critical” to the success of any film, as the photographer provided the images for advertising and promotional material, including the famous movie posters.
“Whilst the main task is to depict the key moments of the film as a still image, the stills photographer also uses his particular skills to create strong artistic images which might range from portraits of lead actors to arresting images that are not simply a copy of the images that appear in the film,” he said.
“These often become the key images that sell the film.”
Parker has about 12 photos out of the more than 100 collated for the exhibition, which charts the rise, fall and renaissance of the Australian film industry from 1896 to 1986.
The exhibition includes stills from the 1900 Salvation Army production Soldiers of the Cross; the world’s first feature-length narrative film, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906); Australia’s first “talkie” and many other milestones of the local industry.
From some of the country’s best-known early films to otherwise unknown or “lost” films, the exhibition covers movies of every genre.
Focal Point Gallery director Craig Watson said there was just as much educational value from the exhibition as entertainment.
“Anyone with an interest in the history of the Australian film industry will find something here,” he said.
“But, if you just want to see great photography or get some ideas on some older Australian films worth watching, you won’t be disappointed either.”
The core of the exhibition was originally put together in the mid-1980s by Joyce Agee with assistance from the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra.
The exhibition has been enlarged with more movies represented and many of the photos restored using modern techniques but retained its historic perspective, Watson said.
“Since the 1980s the Australian film industry has gone from strength to strength and is again a world leader. This exhibition is about where the industry began, its ups and downs and how it reached the levels it has, and as such really doesn’t need to go beyond the renaissance period of the 1970s and 80s,” he said.
Stills Alive – The Magic of the Movies will open on February 5 and run until April 3 at Focal Point Gallery in North Geelong.
