David Cubby. Thursday, 24 January 2013. Photo: Gene Ramirez
WHO is famous? What is perfect?
Photo exhibitions by University of Western Sydney photojournalism students and lecturer David Cubby (pictured) at its Parramatta campus will try to answer those questions.
Dr Cubby's exhibition Perfect Looking comprises 16 photos, each with its own text explaining the picture's story.
One photo was taken in a Polish art gallery of a man looking at a painting. "I took that because he looked like the perfect person looking at the perfect picture in the perfect gallery," Dr Cubby said.
Another photo is of a young and attractive well-dressed woman who appears annoyed with the world. Dr Cubby said he wanted to know why she felt that way, despite what some would see as her perfect appearance.
The students' exhibition, All Most Famous, displays photos of some famous people, such as Delta Goodrem and Charlotte Dawson, and of not-so-famous people striking interesting poses.
"The students didn't always succeed in finding someone famous but so long as they got an interesting picture it was all right," Dr Cubby said.
One photo, Bomb Disposal, depicts a man in military fatigues clasping his head while looking down on a bomb-disposal machine.
Dr Cubby said what was most important in photos was to capture that bit of passing reality that made it interesting. He said digital technology made this more possible because it enabled photographers to assess images while recording them.
Perfect Looking and All Most Famous are on display at the Margaret Whitlam Galleries in the Female Orphan School on UWS's Parramatta campus until Friday, March 1.