Bronwyn Kidd
Bronwyn Kidd (born 1969) is an Australian photographer known for fashion and portraiture who formerly resided in London 1992-2004, and now lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Early life
Bronwyn Kidd was born in Melbourne in 1969 to Robert Kidd (Melbourne, 1940–2004), a butcher, and Barbara Kidd (née Wilson, in Melbourne, 1942). She undertook her upper-secondary education at Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School 1983-1986, where, using her father's Pentax ME II Super, her interest in photography began. Moving up to a Canon F1 at RMIT University she undertook a Bachelor of Arts 1987-1989. There, lecturer Alex Syndikas[1] introduced her to the work of Sarah Moon and she discovered Cecil Beaton, Norman Parkinson and Athol Shmith, all of whose works were an influence on her.
Career
Eager to begin a career, Kidd left art school early, and she took work as an assistant to local fashion photographers. She soon moved to the United Kingdom, in 1992, where she worked with fellow Australian Polly Borland and fashion photographer Clive Arrowsmith.[2] At barely 23 years of age she was taken on by the Queen's couturier Sir Hardy Amies to shoot exclusively for his Savile Row seasonal collections and advertising. For these, she started to use a medium-format Rollei and hired famed British model Paula Hamilton. Kidd has expressed her angle on fashion as an admiration of beauty rather than mere 'sexiness'.[3]
Since 1988 a number of her portraits of fashion designers, including Bella Freud,[4][5] Bruce Oldfield (OBE),[6] Caroline Charles[7] and shoe designer Jimmy Choo[8] have been on exhibition at, and are held in, the National Portrait Gallery, London. Of portraiture, Kidd has said;
"I have had wondrous conversations with people that I may never have met in my lifetime, let alone had dialogue with if I did not have a camera in my hand. The camera serves in many ways as a rite of passage, a privilege, an invitation."[9]
In 2004 Kidd moved back to Australia where she continued her success, concentrating on advertising, but also continued her portraiture, capturing important Australian icons; actress Teresa Palmer, and photographer Bill Henson. Her portraits began to feature prominently in the national press, and subjects include Judge Betty King, Vicki Roach, Philip Lynch, Rob Story, Fiona Smith, Kon Karapanagiotidis, Maxine Morand, Daniel Andrews, Helen Silver, Rod Eddington, Lindsay Tanner, Greg Hunt, Bernie Finn, Carole Francis, and artists Bill Henson, Sam Leach and Gareth Samson.[10] In 2016 she co-created, with long-time collaborator the creative director Virginia Dowzer, the image used to promote the National Gallery of Victoria’s 200 Years of Australian Fashion exhibition.[11]
Kidd is represented by MARS Gallery, Melbourne.[12]
Personal life
Bronwyn Kidd currently lives with her husband, son and step-son in outer Melbourne.
Exhibitions
- 1998 National Portrait Gallery, London.
- 2006 National Portrait Gallery, London. Chinese Connections[15]
- 2008 Strip Jack Naked, Bronwyn Kidd & Virginia Dowzer, Format Furniture, Flinders Lane, Melbourne[16]
- 2008 William and Winifred Bowness Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne.[17]
- 2009 59.5 (Aka 100 Great Outfits), Melbourne, Cose Impanema - Collins Street, Melbourne[18]
- 2016 200 Years of Australian Fashion, National Gallery of Victoria[11][19]
- 2019, September 22 – November 30; Homage to Style, Living Arts Space, Bendigo[20][21][22]
- 2020, August; Frankston Art Space.
Collections
- Hardy Amies
- National Portrait Gallery, London[23]
Works
Publications about Bronwyn Kidd
- Di Trocchio, Paola; Buick, Nadia, (author.); Maynard, Margaret, (author.); Whitfield, Danielle, (author.); National Gallery of Victoria, (host institution.) (2016), 200 years of Australian fashion (Limited ed.), Council of Trustees, National Gallery of Victoria, ISBN 978-1-925432-06-0CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Professional Photographer, Collectors Edition 2010, ‘300 Secrets to success’ page 59.
- British Journal of Photography, 18.11.98, ‘Printers present’ page 17.
Publications of photographs
- Atwood, Margaret (1993), Good bones, Virago, ISBN 978-1-85381-615-4
- Margaret Atwood (1993), The robber bride, New York Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-385-47216-6
- Bates, Brian; Cleese, John; British Broadcasting Corporation (2001), The human face, BBC, ISBN 978-0-563-55188-1
- National Safety Council (2001), Pediatric first aid (4th ed.), Jones and Bartlett Publishers, ISBN 978-0-7637-1336-2
- Unger, John M; Hendricks, Kathleen; Schoen, Kathy (2002), Between you and your child : Catholic values of human sexuality for your family, Sadlier, ISBN 978-0-8215-5770-9
- Cox, Harold (2004), Aging (16th ed.), McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, ISBN 978-0-07-284557-0
- Bunting, Susan J (2005), Human sexuality 05/06 (29th ed.), McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, ISBN 978-0-07-291733-8
- Pascarl, Jacqueline (2007), Since I was a princess, HarperCollinsPublishers Australia, ISBN 978-0-7322-8322-3
- Westlake, Lisa; Kidd, Bronwyn (2012), Mums shape up, Hachette Australia, ISBN 978-0-7336-2835-1
- National Portrait Gallery (Great Britain); Keaney, Magdalene, (writer of introduction.); National Portrait Gallery (Great Britain), (issuing body.) (2019), 100 fashion icons, National Portrait Gallery, ISBN 978-1-85514-737-9CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[24]
Selected editorial
- Fashion Trend Magazine Australia. Issue 31.[25]
- ‘Dynasty’ Cover, pages, Fashion Trend Magazine Australia. Issue 23.[26]
- ‘Queen’ Cover, pages 66–77 Inclusive. Fashion Trend Magazine Australia. Issue 15, ISSN 1832-6811.
- ‘Envy’ Cover, pages 102-111. Who Magazine, Dec.9, 2013. ISSN 1832-6811
- Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek, pages 48–49. Who Magazine, June 26, 2006.
Advertising campaigns
External links
References
- Hulbert, Shane; Davies, Suzanne, ([writer of introduction],); RMIT Gallery (Melbourne, Vic.) (issuing body.) (2017), Photography 130 : behind the lens: 130 years of RMIT photography, Melbourne, Victoria RMIT Gallery, ISBN 978-0-9925156-5-2CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Kate Sears, 'Bronwyn isn’t kidding around,' in Mornington Peninsula Magazine, 25 June 2019, p.70
- "Flashpoint.(A2)", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited: 12, 14 February 2009, ISSN 0312-6307
- "Bella Freud by Bronwyn Kidd, bromide fibre print, 1998 - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Bella Freud by Bronwyn Kidd, bromide fibre print, 1998 - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Bruce Oldfield by Bronwyn Kidd, bromide fibre print, 29 September 1997 - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Caroline Charles by Bronwyn Kidd, C-type colour print, 4 July 1997 - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Bronwyn Kidd - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- https://timewithjoan.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
- "The (Top 100) 2008, Melbourne's Most Influential People". The (Melbourne) Magazine, The Age, issue 51. Fairfax Media. January 2009. pp. 80–81.
- Petrov, Julia (2019), Fashion, history, museums : inventing the display of dress, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, ISBN 978-1-350-04899-7
- "MARS Art Gallery Melbourne | Bronwyn Kidd". Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Women in Photography Exhibition - Australian Photography". www.australianphotography.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- Spowart, Ruby; Smith, Sue, 1953-; Imagery Gallery (1992), Patterns in time : Ruby Spowart photographs 1982-1992 : a mid-career survey celebrating ten years of images and concepts, Imagery Gallery, ISBN 978-0-646-12135-2CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "Chinese Connections - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- Money, Suzanne Carbone and Lawrence (3 March 2008). "This is one shot the paparazzi didn't get". The Age. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- Monash Gallery of Art (2008), WIlliam and Winifred Bowness photography prize 2008, Monash Gallery of Art
- "A Collins-class tribute to bushfire survivors". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "200 Years of Australian Fashion: 90 designers celebrate the fashion industry". HUMA3. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "New Living Arts Space exhibition pays homage to style | City of Greater Bendigo". www.bendigo.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Bronwyn Kidd". Fusebox Design. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Artists Talk: Bronwyn Kidd". Bendigo Tourism. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Bronwyn Kidd - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- Daw, Sarah (7 November 2019). "100 Fashion Icons". Sarah Daw. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "Dynasty: an opulent family affair - Fashionising.com". Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Silver Snowflake Spreads : Queen by Bronwyn Kidd". TrendHunter.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Print ad: Victoria Racing Club: Flemington - The Playground of Racing Royalty". Best Ads on TV. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Print ad: Melbourne Writers Festival: War". Best Ads on TV. Retrieved 21 May 2019.