Max Dupain and Ansel Adams paired in first joint exhibition for Australian regions

A two-year travelling exhibition, "Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: in search of perfection," brings together the works of Australian photographer Max Dupain (1911–92) and American Ansel Adams (1902–84) for the first time worldwide, exclusively for Australian regional communities. Curated by National Gallery of Australia curator Anne O’Hehir and supported by the Bowness Family Foundation, the show features 63 works, including landscapes by both masters and additional pieces by Harold Cazneaux, Annie W. Brigman, Dorothea Lange, David Moore, and Olive Cotton. The exhibition highlights parallels in their modernist approaches: both worked in black and white, emphasized control and structure, previsualised images, and used sharp focus and high contrast. Dupain's assistant Eric Sierins noted Dupain criticized Adams for over-planning, yet Dupain's own four-decade collaboration with architect Harry Seidler showed similar technical precision. Dupain's "Sunbaker" (c.1938) and Adams' "Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California" (1960) exemplify their national iconography. The tour opens at Bayside Gallery in Melbourne from 20 June to 30 August 2026, then moves to Logan Art Gallery in Queensland from 30 January to 3 April 2027.