DEEP SKIN: Colour Photographs 1977–2006

About the exhibition
Deep Skin is a compelling retrospective of colour photographs by Tim Handfield spanning 1977 to 2006. The exhibition explores the relationship between landscape and human activity through a uniquely Australian lens, finding beauty in the altered, everyday environment—from suburban corners to industrial edges and rural transformations. His democratic eye transforms the commonplace into lyrical compositions charged with colour and geometric precision.

Exhibition Highlights
The exhibition features rare cibachrome prints from the 1970s and 1980s alongside large-scale digitally produced works:

• Colour Photographs 1977-78: Early works establishing Handfield as a pioneer of New Colour Photography in Australia
• Indigenous Australian Landscapes 1985: Triptych series exploring Australia’s altered rural environments
• Matrix, Horse Creek NSW 1988: A multi-panel work in cibachrome
• In Camera 2004-06: Vibrant large-scale works from Melbourne’s industrial and domestic landscapes

Curatorial Significance
Handfield was among the first Australian photographers to work exclusively in colour during the 1970s and pioneered the use of the cibachrome printing process in Australia. The exhibition spans two pivotal periods: the emergence of New Colour Photography in the 1970s-80s and the transition to digital processes in the 2000s. Wallace-Crabbe writes that “Handfield is a master of tranquil passages” who “wrings beauty” from the commonplace.

The title, Deep Skin refers to the fundamental abstraction at the heart of all photography: the translation of three-dimensional space onto the light-sensitive “skin” of the film or digital sensor. This collapse of depth into surface is central to Handfield’s work, where the richness of the world meets the plane of the photographic image.

Works are held in major collections including: the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Museum of Australian Photography and Australian Parliament House Collection.