Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits

A Centre for Contemporary Photography Exhibition curated by Catlin Langford and Metro Auto Photo

 

Opening Event: Saturday 28 February 3pm to 5pm
Register thefac.com.au or 03 9784 1060
Speakers: CCP Director Daniel Boetker-Smith & Christopher Sutherland and Jessie Norman (Metro Auto Photo)

 

Gallery Talk: Saturday 2 May 11am to noon
Register thefac.com.au or 03 9784 1060
Speakers: Curator Catlin Langford with Christopher Sutherland and Jessie Norman (Metro Auto Photo)

 

Auto Photo: A Life in Portraits is a distinctly Australian story, centred on the figure of Alan Adler. Adler, while little known, was likely the most photographed man in Australia and is also the oldest and longest serving photobooth technician in the world. For over 50 years, Adler maintained a suite of photobooths across Melbourne/Narrm, most notably, the site near Flinders Street Station. As part of his business, Adler would undertake weekly services of his photobooths, a process that produced a strip of photographs to check focus, flash and print quality, leading to an archive of thousands of photographs. These self-portraits are the only surviving record of Adler’s impact and his role servicing these photobooths. Since the 1970s, Adler's photobooths have contributed to the photography of over a million people.

Auto Photo: A Life in Portraits will feature Alan Adler’s extensive archive, alongside additional works by and drawn from the collections of Metro Auto Photo (Christopher Sutherland & Jessie Norman), Katherine Griffiths, and Patrick Pound.

 

 

 

_{Image: Alan Adler, Photobooth portraits, gelatin silver prints © Alan Adler/Metro Auto Photo.}