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Biography of Olive Cotton: Australia's Finest Photographer

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Biography of Olive Cotton: Australia's Finest Photographer
Olive cotton is an Australian photographer who produced magnificent photography for over 60 years. She was born on 11 July 1911 in Hornsby, Sydney. On her 11th birthday Olive Cotton was given a Kodak camera from her father who taught her all the basics of photography. Her father helped her turn the home laundry into a dark room to produce photographs. Cotton had no prior experience with photography. In her darkroom Cotton processed films and produced her first black and white image. While on holidays with her family in Newport Beach Cotton met Max Dupain, whom she later married for two years in 1939, and they became friends, sharing a passion for photography. In 1941 Olive Cotton was asked to manage Dupains studio while he was called to service in war, she accepted and worked as a professional photographer. Olive Cotton got remarried and moved away to Cowra. When she moved away from Dupains studio Cotton did not have access to a dark room for twenty years, but continued to take photos. She later had a child and opened a small photographic studio. Cotton is noted as one of Australia’s most notorious photographers and visual artists with her work show casing in Australia and multiple international exhibitions. Cotton passed away in the first week of October 2003.
Vapour Trail 1991
In this image Cotton has captured a surreal moment. The use of black and white exaggerates the scene and gives of a cold and dark feeling. The photo Vapour Trail 1991 was taken from a low angle shot. Taking the image from this angle allows Cotton to include the vapour trail and the clouds in the sky and environment around it. The vapour trail which runs from the top right corner to the bottom left corner give a deep depth of field, the trail has a rough, grainy texture throughout it and consists of many distorted lines. The light source is coming from the bottom right highlighting the clouds. Also included in the photograph is a line of trees and shrubs in the foreground. The foreground

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