Week 4 Artist Research - Olive Cotton

Olive Cotton (11 July 1911 – 27 September 2003) was a pioneering Australian modernist female photographer of the 1930s and 40s working in Sydney.Cotton became a national "name" with a retrospective and touring exhibition 50 years later in 1985. A book of her life and work, published by the National Library of Australia, came out in 1995. Olive Cotton captured her childhood friend Max Dupain from the sidelines at photoshoots, and made several portraits of him. Dupain was Cotton's first husband.


Olive Cotton was known for her use of pattern and leading lines. In the first photo i can see leading lines more than pattern, the shadows created by the glasses frame pulls your eyes down and then the sharp angle of the table pulls the eye back up. In the second photo i see a bit of pattern from the ripples in the sand and leading lines in the foot steps, this pulls your eyes mainly from the subject (the woman) to the left top corner of the photo. Then in the last photo theres more pattern and disrupted patterns from the teacups and handles.