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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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Search / athol shmith

Athol Shmith

Biography

Athol Shmith (1914-1990) was a professional photographer specialising in portraiture, branching into the fashion and advertising fields after 1936.

1 portrait in the collection

Athol Shmith, 1985

Michel Lawrence

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 1999

Progressive pictures

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2017

Athol Shmith’s photographs contributed to the emergence of a new vision of Australian womanhood.

Athol Guy

Biography

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

The Seekers reunite 50 years on, 2011

Helen Edwards

Portrait, synthetic polymer on linen

Gift of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.

The Seekers, 1993

Rennie Ellis

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne

Graham Kennedy and the Seekers in Melbourne, c. 1968

Robert Whitaker

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2007

Great stylists: Caruso, Melba, Pavarotti, Bonynge and Sutherland

Great stylists: Caruso, Melba, Pavarotti, Bonynge and Sutherland, 1983

Arthur Horner

Portrait, pencil on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Eric Harding and Athol Hawke 2002

Patricia 'Bambi' Tuckwell (Shmith), c. 1952

Max Dupain OBE

Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003

Portrait 57

Winter 2017

Magazine

The discovery of Dempsey's People, Australian rugby greats, Athol Shmith's progressive pictures, and powerful Indigenous portraits.

Max Loudon

Biography

Max Loudon was photographic assistant to, and darkroom manager for, Athol Shmith and John Cato before becoming a photographer for Rolling Stone Australia.

1 portrait in the collection

Bambi Tuckwell

Biography

Patricia 'Bambi' Tuckwell (1926-2018) was a leading Australian fashion model as well as a promising violinist.

1 portrait in the collection

Jacqueline Mitelman

Biography

Jacqueline Mitelman (b. 1952), photographer, was born in Scotland and moved to Australia with her family at the age of five.

23 portraits in the collection

Janice McIllree

Biography

Janice McIllree (nee Wakely) (1935-2022), fashion model and photographer, began her modelling career in Melbourne in 1954, having graduated from Sydney's Mannequin Academy in 1952.

4 portraits in the collection

George Nicholas CBE

Biography

George Nicholas CBE (1884-1960), pharmacist and philanthropist, grew up in South Australia and Victoria.

1 portrait in the collection

Rod McNicol

Biography

Rod McNicol (b. 1946), photographic artist, studied photography at Prahran College in Melbourne, where he formed a close friendship with Athol Shmith.

1 portrait in the collection

Michael Leunig, 2004

Jacqueline Mitelman

Portrait, type C photograph on paper

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE

Biography

Barry Tuckwell AC OBE (1931-2020), horn soloist, conductor, teacher and author spent his early years in Melbourne, where he learned a variety of instruments including piano and violin.

1 portrait in the collection

Barry Tuckwell, 1991

June Mendoza AO OBE

Portrait, oil on canvas

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of David Tuckwell 2018

Untitled, Conductors, Tramways series, 1990 © Matt Nettheim

Back track

About Face article

Penelope Grist finds photographer Matt Nettheim re-visiting a formative and fulfilling career tram stop.

Bruce Woodley

Biography

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Keith Potger

Biography

The Seekers, folk music band, formed in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who sang and played bass in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

Judith Durham AO

Biography

The Seekers formed in Melbourne in 1962 when jazz singer Judith Durham met Athol Guy, who was in a folk trio with Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.

3 portraits in the collection

In and out of focus

Magazine article by Gael Newton, 2017

Gael Newton looks at Australian photography, film and the sixties through the novel lens of Mark Strizic.

Australian of the Year

Inspiring a Nation

Previous exhibition, 2010

The Australian of the Year Awards have often provoked controversy about who is selected and whether their achievements are remarkable.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Previous exhibition, 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Lyndall Hobbs and Marilyn at the Come as your favourite blonde party, Blitz Club, London, 1979 Robert Rosen

Shiny, happy people

Magazine article by Glynis Jones, 2022

Glynis Jones on the Powerhouse’s retrospective of one of Australia’s foremost fashion reportage and social photographers.

A spectral sentience

Magazine article by Aimee Board, 2019

Aimee Board reveals method, motivation and mortality in the portraiture of Rod McNicol.

Louise Lovely feeding gulls in a park, 1969 Unknown photographer

Jewelled nights

Magazine article by Dr Anne Sanders, 2017

Anne Sanders celebrates the cinematic union of two pioneering australian women.

Generous Janice

Magazine article by Dr Sarah Engledow, 2013

Dr Sarah Engledow puts four gifts to the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection in context.

Portrait Donors

Listed by year

Honour board

The art of Inner Worlds

Lecture, 7 May 2011

General content

Dr Christopher Chapman NPG Curator of Inner Worlds explains the development of an exhibition that spans from Surrealism to contemporary art.

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