Life’s work put in new book
NOT many photographers are still actively making images at the age of 93, but Graham Burstow OAM is and he’s still shooting on film.
Having just achieved that milestone, Mr Burstow is celebrating by publishing a book that surveys more than 70 years of his photography.
Graham is well known for his photography of people.
Whether it’s at the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, or a beer belly competition, he goes behind the scenes, seeking out the strange, the humorous and the heartwarming.
The previously unpublished images featured in the new book, called Closer, were mostly taken in his familiar stamping grounds of Toowoomba, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. But there are also many striking images from his wider travels around Australia and overseas.
Graham’s work is held in several public collections, including those of the National Library of Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery and the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery.
Graham is also active as a lecturer and photo competition judge, including a 30-year involvement with Toowoomba’s Heritage Acquisitive Award.
Mr Burstow said he had a number of highlights from his long career, including the staging of his solo exhibition in 2014 called Flesh: The Gold Coast in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and the publication of the related book, the publication of a book of his prints, called Touch Me, in 1998 and his inclusion in a group of six prominent
Queensland-based photographers chosen by the Queensland Art Gallery to document aspects of Queensland life for a major exhibition, Journeys
North, as part of the bicentenary celebrations 1988.
His book is set to be launched at the Cobb and Co Museum this Friday.