Biographers in Conversation

Helen Ennis' 'Max Dupain: A Portrait'

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In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, the acclaimed author and art historian Dr Helen Ennis chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting Max Dupain: A Portrait, the first biography of the photographer Max Dupain, Australia’s most influential photographer of the 20th century.  

 

Here’s what you’ll discover in this episode:  

  • Helen Ennis’s inspiration for crafting Max Dupain: A Portrait  
  • How Max Dupain’s photograph ‘The floater’ influenced Helen’s narrative strategy and the biography’s tone  
  • How Dupain’s character drove the plot  
  • How the women in Dupain’s life and work were instrumental to his success  
  • How Helen achieved a fine balance between Dupain’s professional and public life and his human story  
  • How she reconciled Dupain’s contradictions and complexity to craft a biography characterised by intense psychological closeness  
  • How she ensured her voice as the narrator didn’t overshadow Dupain’s voice and artistic vision  
  • The extent to which Helen interpreted Dupain’s character and behaviour versus providing clues and leaving it up to readers to draw their own   conclusions.
    • ...more
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