Bayside Gallery

Max Dupain’s early work followed the soft, romantic Pictorialist style shaped by Harold Cazneaux and the older generation of photographers. When the National Gallery of Australia approached Dupain in the early 1980s to acquire work, ‘Ripples and reeds’ was among a handful of prints that he requested to retain, ‘to be able to have a look at now and again’.

See this early treasured work in 'Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection', on display at Bayside Gallery, 20 June - 30 August.

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family
Foundation Photography Touring Program.

📅 On display until Sunday 30 August
📍 Bayside Gallery, Brighton
🕰️ Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm
🔗 Learn more here: https://pulse.ly/oicsx4vr0x

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra




[Image credit: Max Dupain, ‘Ripples and reeds’, c. 1928, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1982. Image description: A black and white photograph of a light falling on a gently
rippled body of water scattered with reeds.]

Max Dupain’s photography reflects a lifelong relationship with the sea and the natural environment. He believed respect for the environment was necessary for civilisation’s survival and this sentiment remained with him his whole life: ‘nature, forever unvanquished by the ages’, he wrote, ‘is a bounteous blessing to the life of man. We all need nature more than it needs us’.

See this work and more in Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection, a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

📅 On display until Sunday 30 August
📍 Bayside Gallery, Brighton
🕰️ Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm
🔗 Learn more via link in bio

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra



[Image credit: Max Dupain, ‘Surf edge’, 1950, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976. Image description: Black and white photograph of waves lapping on a beach]

✨ Moments from Winter Solstice at Billilla ✨

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Winter Solstice to celebrate the longest night of the year. Billilla Gardens came alive with glowing lanterns, live music from Vardos and Hoodoo Mayhem, and a magical lantern parade.

Take a look through our photo gallery to relive the night 📸

Did you attend? We’d love your feedback - take a quick survey and help shape future events.

🔗https://pulse.ly/xkcdme74gm

[Image description: A collection of photos from Winter Solstice at Billilla 2026, featuring vibrant lantern installations, live music and guests gathering to enjoy a memorable winter evening.]

Join artist Greg Elms for an inspiring hands-on alternative photography workshop. Since the 1990s, Greg has been working with the scanner as a tool for making and recording visual artefacts. In this unique workshop, Greg will share his experience with participants to reveal the creative potential of the humble flatbed scanner as an unconventional image-making tool.

Alternative photography workshop with Greg Elms
📅 Saturday 18 July
⏰ 1pm to 4pm
📍Bayside Gallery, Brighton Town Hall
🔗$50, Suitable for adults. All materials supplied. Book here: https://pulse.ly/zfczqjt3r6

This event is held in association with the exhibition 'Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection', on display at Bayside Gallery 20 June - 30 August. 'Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection' is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

[Image credit 1: Greg Elms, Possum banksia 2018, inkjet print. Courtesy the artist]

[Image description 1: A close-up photograph of a fluffy seed head with fine, wispy white and golden filaments against a black background. 2: An instagram tile with white text reading “National Gallery on Tour: Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: in search of perfection, Bayside Gallery, 20 June – 30 August.”]

‘Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection’ is now on view. 🤩📷

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams shaped the visual imagination of their respective nations through the lens of modernist photography. Though working on opposite sides of the Pacific, they shared a profound commitment to formal clarity, tonal precision, and the expressive potential of light. Bayside Gallery is the only Victorian venue to host this landmark touring exhibition.

Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

📅 On display until Sunday 30 August
📍 Bayside Gallery, Brighton
🕰️ Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm
🔗 Learn more via link in bio

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra



[Image credit: ‘Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection’ 2026, installation view, Bayside Gallery. Photo: Mark Ashkanasy.]

[Image description: Installation view of framed black and white photographs in a gallery setting.]

‘Pictorially, the simpler the form, the more impact it has on the viewer and the drama is intensified; to me that is terribly important.’ - Max Dupain, 1991

See this photograph of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, titled
‘City lights’, in Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection, a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

📅 On display until Sunday 30 August
📍 Bayside Gallery, Brighton
🕰️ Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm
🔗 Learn more via link in bio

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

[Image credit: Max Dupain, City lights, 1939, National Gallery of Australia, KamberriCanberra, purchased 1983]

[Image description: Black and white photo of a steel bridge at night with long exposure light trails from traffic.]

Join us these school holidays for a hands-on children’s workshop exploring cyanotypes — one of photography’s most magical processes.

Fun, easy, and a little bit scientific, this workshop uses sunlight and shadow to create beautiful photographic prints. First developed in 1842, cyanotypes produce striking, one-of-a-kind images in brilliant Prussian blue. You’ll be guided step-by-step to create your own unique artworks to take home, using natural materials found in the Brighton Town Hall Gardens.

Children's Cyanotype workshop

📅Thursday 2 July
⏰ 1pm to 3pm
📍Bayside Gallery, Brighton Town Hall
🔗$20, Suitable for ages 8+. All materials supplied. Book here: https://brnw.ch/21x3x0A

This event is held in association with the exhibition 'Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection', on display at Bayside Gallery 20 June - 30 August.

'Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection' is a National Gallery Touring Exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.



[Image description: A cyanotype with white silhouettes of delicate plant stems with small blossoms on a deep blue cyanotype background.]

Children’s cyanotype workshop Join us for a hands-on children's workshop making Cyanotypes, one of photography’s most magical processes. This is an easy and fun way to make photographic prints, using sunlight and shadow. First developed in 1842, the process produces a one-of-a-kind, Prussian blue image. You will be guided thro...

A landmark exhibition has arrived at Bayside Gallery 📸

Guests gathered today to celebrate the opening of ‘Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection’ (20 June to 30 August) – a major National Gallery of Australia touring exhibition presented as part of the Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program.

The opening attracted artists, photographers and members of our local community, all eager to experience this nationally significant exhibition. Visitors were among the first to see Dupain’s iconic modernist studies of Australia’s built environments together with Adams’ majestic portrayals of the American wilderness in a compelling and illuminating pairing.

The exhibition also includes works by their contemporaries, from portraits to still lifes, providing rich context and insight into their influence on the development of twentieth-century photography.

📅 On display until Sunday 30 August
📍 Bayside Gallery, Brighton
🕰️ Wed–Fri: 11am to 5pm, Sat–Sun: 1pm to 5pm
🔗 Read the full story here: https://brnw.ch/21x3va3

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra



[Image description: 1: L-R - Tara James, Manager, Touring Exhibitions - National Gallery of Australia, Joanna Bosse, Acting Arts & Culture Coordinator at Bayside City Council, Natasha Bowness, Bowness Family Foundation, Cr Elli Murray, Anne O’Hehir, Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia and Deputy Mayor Cr Andrew Hockley. 2 - 13: ‘Max Dupain and Ansel Adams: In search of perfection’ opening event at Bayside Gallery]