An exhibition featuring the works of photographer John Williams is currently running at the Colour Factory Gallery, Fitzroy Melbourne.
The exhibition 'Taking a Camera for a Walk, My First 60 Years on the Streets' spans over half a century of street photography from both Australia and abroad, with the earliest photograph in the exhibition taken in 1952.
William’s earliest work was captured in square format on a Rolleicord TLR.
“When my now battered twin-lens Rollei finally gave up the ghost, I took the hint and shifted to 35mm. Over the next 30 years, I pursued my indecisive moments with Pentaxes, Olympuses and Leicas.” Inspired by his wife, Ingeborg Tyssen’s, choice of camera after her death another visual shift took place as William’s picked up a panoramic camera.
This is the first exhibition of William’s work in Melbourne since his retrospective at the NGV in 1991.
“Treat these as an old man’s cry of alarm and sigh of resignation. Enough to say that I’m not finished yet with either the streets or the anti-landscapes to which they led me.”
Williams was the co-founder of The Photographers Gallery during the mid 1970s in South Yarra.
The exhibition runs until November 28 at the Colour Factory Gallery, 409-429 Gore St Fitzroy.