Artists are pioneers, they’re always pushing the boundaries of creativity… burrowing into the labyrintae of their own emotion, of the whole volatile human condition, in search of the cause and effect, the essential truths…¹

Rennie Ellis encapsulates the Australian connection to the beach and water in two images, as featured in our current exhibition, Melbourne Out Loud: Life through the lens of Rennis Ellis.

A shaggy haired and bare backed youth lies sprawled on the sand, nose smeared in Zinc, eyeing the camera. Slurping on a shake, a laconic half smile — life doesn’t get much better.

Sun bronzed, toting skimpy bikini and matching shades, the beach goer (below) is entrenched. This is her territory. She is nonchalant, almost defiant, staring past the lens.

Beyond stereotypes, these images can stir within many of us sun-kissed memories as a child, teen or adult. You taste the salt and the water, smell the tan oil and the sweat.

‘Beach’ is one amongst eight curated themes that make up Melbourne Out Loud. The exhibition also includes ‘Celebrities’, ‘Dance’, ‘Fashion’, ‘Footy’, ‘Melbourne Cup’ and ‘Protest’. The eighth theme, ‘Melbourne Out Loud’, showcases the vibrancy and diversity of Melbourne, and gives the exhibition its title.

Images in the exhibition are presented in both print and digital. They show Australian life, in stereo, complete with a curated soundtrack of music from the eras depicted. The exhibition celebrates and showcases the work of Victorian photographer Rennie Ellis.

Ellis commenced a promising career in advertising, ² but his interest in photography became the driving force of his personal and professional life.

This history is recounted in the exhibition, including the establishment of the seminal Brummels Gallery, the first photography gallery in Australia.³ Rennie Ellis also published twenty-one books and his works are featured in galleries across the country and internationally.

Ellis sought and succeeded in documenting a spectrum of Australian culture from the 1960s onwards, explaining in an interview in 1988:

‘I became very interested in trying to record in words and on film what people were doing, their attitudes and lifestyles.’⁴

The ‘Celebrities and Dance’ theme showcases the brash and the brazen, snapped in the bold, bright fashion of 1980s excess. The unfettered vibrancy of pulsating nightclub scenes and gatherings across pubs, venues and loungerooms.

Isn’t Rennie Ellis lucky? He goes to more parties than you, me and anyone else.⁵

But there is more to Rennie Ellis than societal snaps of the famous and those of an average Australian doing their thing. Look closer.

The beach blonde is elevated to model status. A ball-gowned woman and formally suited man, dance freely at a gala event, as unguarded as the edgiest clubber.

Melbourne Cup carnivale atmosphere and football passion are celebrated in unison, on the track, at the game and across the nation.

The ‘Fashion’ theme in the exhibition portrays the fashion-world beyond the facade, highlighting the feverish pace under the surface-level glamour.⁶

While the zeitgeist of politics and mood of the times is captured in the ‘Protest’ theme of the exhibition.

The ‘Melbourne Out Loud’ theme keenly observes the sense of community, exploring the mores of the era and our humanity.

There is a generous egalitarianism⁷ to Rennie Ellis’ work and social commentary on the working class and inner-city struggle.

He also chronicled subterranean communities, drawn to aspects of life beyond the usual, including Melbourne’s bar and music scenes, and the strip clubs and nightlife of Sydney’s Kings Cross. With Sydney social/cultural photographer, William Yang, Ellis documented Sydney’s gay community and its burgeoning Mardi Gras scene.

While Yang identified the essential voyeuristic nature of the social photographer,⁸ Ellis served the role of a twentieth century flaneur, recording experiences of urban life.⁹

Melbourne Out Loud consistently demonstrates Ellis’ sensitivity in exploring his subjects, not exploiting them.

‘You know, pictures remind us of where we’ve been and given other people somewhere to go,’ so mused Rennie Ellis’ friend and fellow photographer, Carol Jerrems.¹⁰

Viewing Rennie Ellis’ images provides the opportunity to revel in nostalgia for aspects of Australian life, help deepen our understanding of the past and ruminate on the future to come.

Browse the Rennie Ellis collection online and visit Melbourne Out Loud, Life through the lens of Rennie Ellis, Victoria Gallery, State Library Victoria until 25 May 2025.

State Library Victoria holds the full catalogue of Rennis Ellis’ published books.

References

1. Ellis, R, speech notes, National Mental Health Week, 18 October 1994, MS 15790, State Library Victoria
2. Ellis, R, Van Wyk, S & Negus, G, 2008, No standing, only dancing : photographs by Rennie Ellis, National Gallery of Victoria, p 7
3. Ellis, R, Yang, W, McFarlane, R & Furci, M, 2014, Decadent : 1980-2000, Hardie Grant Books, in assocation with the State Library of Victoria, Richmond, p 10
4. Ellis, R, Van Wyk, S & Negus, G, 2008, No standing, only dancing : photographs by Rennie Ellis, National Gallery of Victoria, p 6
5. Ellis, R, 1985, Life’s a ball, Currey O’Neil : distributed by Gordon and Gotch, South Yarra
6. Ellis, R, 1986, Life’s a parade, Lothian, Port Melbourne, p 26
7. Ellis, R, Van Wyk, S & Negus, G, 2008, No standing, only dancing : photographs by Rennie Ellis, National Gallery of Victoria, p 16
8. As above, p 6
9. Ellis, R, Yang, W, McFarlane, R & Furci, M, 2014, Decadent : 1980-2000, Hardie Grant Books, in association with the State Library of Victoria, Richmond
10. Letter from Carol Jerrems to R Ellis, 1976, MS 15790, MS Box 58/14 (No 6), State Library Victoria