Robert McFarlane

Robert McFarlane (1942–2023), was an Australian photographer, born in Adelaide, South Australia. He specialised in recording social and political issues, as well as documenting performance in film and theatre within Australia. Among the prominent figures he’s photographed are Charlie Perkins, Cate Blanchett and Bob Hawke. He has also been recognised for his contributions with a $50,000 award, named in honour of philanthropists Dr. Jim Bettison and Helen James.

Early life McFarlane was born in Glenelg, in beachside Adelaide, South Australia - 1942. He was given a Kodak Box Brownie at the age of 9 by his parents, Bill and Poppy McFarlane. Five years later, while at Brighton High School (today known as Brighton Secondary School) in Adelaide's southern suburbs, he used a then recently purchased Durst medium format rangefinder camera to capture an image of a teacher striking a pupil at the school assembly.

After leaving school he began to work in a small advertising agency, where his growing interest in photography was encouraged. In 1963 he moved to Sydney, where he began freelancing for magazines including The Bulletin, Vogue Australia and Walkabout.

Career Robert McFarlane began to work seriously as a photojournalist after being encouraged by his employers at his then job, as a copy boy in an advertising agency. He received a commission from Walkabout to photograph Professor John Bishop, co-founder of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. On the same assignment, he also made images of author Patrick White, dancer and choreographer Sir Robert Helpmann, actor John Bell, and painter Sidney Nolan.

In 1963, McFarlane moved to Sydney where he worked for The Bulletin and AustralianVogue. With the artist Kate Burness, who later became his first wife, he traveled to London and in 1969, he freelanced for The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times Magazine, and NOVA magazine. He returned to Sydney in 1973 and eventually to Adelaide in 2007.

Though McFarlane specialised in social issues—he worked on a book documenting mental illness—and performance. He also took portraits of a number of notable figures in Australian and international life. These include fellow photographers W Eugene Smith, Don McCullin, Jeff Carter, Max Dupain, David Moore, and Trent Parke; political figures such as Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam, Charlie Perkins It remains the largest single photographic project in Australian history and was published both as a touring exhibition and as a book.

A prominent exhibition was Received Moments, a 48-year career retrospective, which began touring Australia in December 2009

The received moment McFarlane did not write extensively on the subject, but his idea of the "received moment" attracted media and curatorial attention. Related in some ways to Henri Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment", McFarlane's formulation has been seen as being "gentler, more contemplative". By suggesting the need for the photographer to remain open to the world around, it also has the advantage of containing the seed of a photographic method. Gael Newton, senior curator of photography at the National Gallery of Australia, has written about McFarlane's approach and quotes him as saying "I see making pictures as a receiving of the image. Where you stand, both physically and emotionally, decrees the kind of picture you, through your camera, will receive".

Personal life McFarlane's first wife was the artist Kate Burness. He later remarried to the theatre director Mary-Ann Vale. He had two children, Morgan (born 1974–1994 (to Burness) and Billy (born 1990, to Vale).

Awards 2017: Jim Bettison and Helen James Award, from Adelaide Film Festival in collaboration with the Bettison and James Foundation

Collections McFarlane's work is held in the following permanent collections: National Portrait Gallery (Canberra) National Gallery of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales Art Gallery of South Australia National Library of Australia