DUPAIN, MAXWELL SPENCER

born April 22, 1911, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia died July 27, 1992 Australian photographer who developed an influential style of commercial photography that emphasized the geometric forms in his architectural and industrial subjects. Dupain, who exhibited his first landscape photographs while attending grammar school, studied at the East Sydney Technical College and at the Julian Ashton art school (193335) while he apprenticed with Cecil Bostock (193034). During World War II he left his fashion- and portrait-photography studio to work for the army camouflage unit; he then worked for the Department of Information (194547). Upon his return to studio work, he de-emphasized picturesque landscapes and portraiture in favour of the more abstract architectural and industrial imagery that established him as one of Australia's most significant Modernist photographers. He was the subject of numerous exhibitions and retrospectives, notably an exhibit at the Photographer's Gallery in London celebrating his 80th birthday. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1982.