This exhibition presents a rare opportunity to view works from AGSA’s rich collections of historical South Australian dress and photography. Drawing on recent research into the makers and wearers of the dresses, the exhibition brings the superb craftsmanship of the dressmakers into dialogue with photography of the period. Spanning from the 1850s through to 1920, the works offer a journey into a period of dramatic sartorial and social change.

The exhibition explores the way in which both photography and dress are artforms that emerge from everyday life – clothing worn in the home, close to the body, and a receptacle of personal and family histories. Similarly, photography was used to capture individuals and family members in pivotal moments of their lives, either dressed up in a photographer’s studio or informally at home or outdoors.

Both dress and photography provide an insight into the intimate and public realm, and the way in which social and class expectations shaped self-presentation. Through a series of tableaux highlighting key works, the exhibition offers a powerful encounter with the materiality of the past.

Image: Tartan dress, worn by Mrs Josephine Geyer 1860-65, cotton, silk, wood, metal, 83.0 cm (diam) (bust), 60.0 cm (diam) (waist), 55.5 cm (diam) (front length), 10.0 cm (depth); Gift of Miss G.J. Madigan 1937, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide