Brett Leigh Dicks

Brett Leigh Dicks. Born in Sydney, Australia. Naturalized American (2008). Australian/American contemporary photographer that typically works within the tradition of New Topographics.
Early years
Attended Girraween High School. From 1988 to 1991 he studied Applied Science at the Sydney Institute of Technology, Sydney. From 1994 to 1996 Dicks further his scientific studies at the University of Sydney where he undertook a Masters in Microscopy and Microanalysis and worked at the University as scientific photographer. Previous to commencing his studies, Dicks worked as a photographer within the Australian music industry.
He began exhibiting as a still photographer from 1995, firstly in Sydney, Australia. In opening his own photographic gallery in Annandale, Lewis Morley saw a sample of Dicks' photography in a local cafe. Morley recognized the photographer's name from a review of his own recent retrospective exhibition at the The State Library of New South Wales that Dicks authored and Morley subsequently invited Dicks to exhibit with his gallery. After exhibiting with The Lewis Morley Photographers Showcase for several years, Dicks' work has since been represented and exhibited by Point Light Gallery.
Exhibiting photographer
Having staged his first solo exhibition at The Lewis Morley Photographers Showcase in 1996, Dicks' work has since been widely exhibited in Australia, The United States of America, and Europe. Highlights of his career include the inclusion of several images within the "Aracana Natur" exhibition curated by the Gallery For Photography in Germany that toured extensively through that country, a joint exhibition with Lewis Morley at Gallery 62 Robertson in Brisbane, and several solo appearances at PhotoLA. His work has constituted over fifty solo exhibitions, been featured in over 100 group exhibitions and is currently represented by Point Light Gallery in Australia and The Gallery For Photography in Germany.
Photographic curator
After transferring the representative of his work to Point light Gallery in Australia, Dicks subsequently took a leading curatorial role in the exhibition program at The Lewis Morley Photographers Showcase. He curated exhibitions by Greg Rouse, Robert Billington, and Lewis Morley himself. Following his tenure at the Showcase, Dicks then took over as exhibition curator for Gallery 62 Robertson in Brisbane. There he staged exhibitions by Australia's premier photographers including Max Dupain, David Moore, Lewis Morley, and Gordon Undy. One of the Gallery's most popular exhibitions was a show collective undertaking titled "Music for the Ears". In returning to his own musical roots, the exhibition featured fine photography that had incidentally featured upon the cover of records and CDs. The exhibition featured Russell Kilbey, Paul Tatz, and Judi Kuepper. Since relocating to Santa Barbara, Dicks has curated two exhibitions for the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission - one featuring twelve local photographers commissioned to create new work ("The Essential Worker") and the other ("The Storefront Gallery Project") highlighting historic images from the archive of The Santa Barbara Historic Society. He also curated an exhibition for local photographer Patricia Houghton Clarke titled "Sentimento" and collaborated with photographer Patricia Houghton Clarke via the curation of a solo exhibition of her work.. In 2009 Dicks curated an exhibition of historic images of Santa Barbara titled "The Storefront Gallery Project" for the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization and the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission. The exhibition was staged in vacant store front windows along State Street, Santa Barbara. Dicks is currently working on a project detailing abandoned military installations<ref name="independent.com"/>.
Personal life
Resides in Santa Barbara, California and Perth, Western Australia. Married to Australian singer-songwriter Natalie D-Napoleon.
Major solo exhibitions
*2009. "Trees", True World Gallery, Joshua Tree, USA.
*2009. "The Berlin Wall: Twenty Years On" The Karpeles Museum, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2008. "People Photographing" Samys Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2007. "Gallipoli" Santa Barbara City Library, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2006. "Abandoned Houses" Galerie Fotografie, Munich, Germany.
*2004. "Buchenwald" Santa Barbara City Library, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2003. "Across the Crystal Frontier" Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2004. "Der Blick des Antipoden" Galerie für Fotografie, Rotenburg, Germany.
*2001. "Brett Leigh Dicks" Haus der Fotografie, Hannover, Germany.
*2000. "Aus dem innem Australiens" Fotografie Eduard Raab, Hamburg, Germany.
*2000. "Berlin: Ten Years On" Gallery 62 Robertosn, Brisbane, Australia.
*1999. "Beyond Truth or Consequences" Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1999. "About Berlin" Level Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1998. "The American Southwest" Fotografie Eduard Raab, Hamburg, Germany.
*1998. "Photographs by Brett Leigh Dicks" San Elijo Library, San Diego, USA.
*1997. "Brett Leigh Dicks" The Great Hall, University of Sydney, Australia.
*1997. "Brett Leigh Dicks" Gallery 62 Robertosn, Brisbane, Australia.
*1996. "Photographs by Brett Leigh Dicks" Daniel Matheau Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1996. "The Spirit of Place" Lewis Morley Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
Major group exhibitions
*2006. "War Stories" Bill Dewey & Brett Leigh Dicks. Off-Axis, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2005. "Dichotomy" Bob DeBris, Bill Dewey, Brett Leigh Dicks, Santi Vasalli & Bob Werling. Arts Alive Gallery, Santa Barbara, USA.
*2004. "Summer Salon" Linda Connor, Paul Capronigro, Brett Leigh Dicks, Michael Kenna, George Tice, Gordon Undy. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2003. "Sydney or the Bush" Jeff Carter, Rex Dupain, Brett Leigh Dicks, Max Dupain, Jon Lewis, Roger Scott. New Contemporaries, Sydney, Australia.
*2002. "Comtemporary Photography" Linda Connor, Paul Capronigro, Brett Leigh Dicks, Michael Kenna, George Tice, Gordon Undy. Gold Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
*2002. "Signed" Brett Leigh Dicks & Glenn Willard. Gallery 62 Robertson, Brisbane, Australia.
*2002. "The Anniverary Exhibition" Linda Connor, Paul Capronigro, Brett Leigh Dicks, Michael Kenna, George Tice, Gordon Undy. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2001. "Sand" Linda Connor, Brett Leigh Dicks, Max Dupain, Fay Godwin, Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2001. "A Sense of Place" Photographs of the Australian Landscape by Gordon Undy & Brett Leigh Dicks . Gallery 62 Robertson, Brisbane, Australia.
*2001. "PhotoLA" Alison Holland Photography. Santa Monica Civic Centre, Santa Monica, USA.
*2001. "Arcana Naturae" Imogen Cunningham, Brett Leigh Dicks, Alfred Ehrhardt, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Josef Sudek. Fotogalerie im Haus Bohl, Eisenach, Germany.
*2000. "Water" Paul Capronigro, Brett Leigh Dicks, Murray Fredricks, Gordon Undy. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2000. "Australian Landscapes" Linda Connor, Brett Leigh Dicks, Gordon Undy, Ian Williams. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*2000. "Arcana Naturae" Imogen Cunningham, Brett Leigh Dicks, Alfred Ehrhardt, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Josef Sudek. Haus der Fotographie, Hannover, Germany.
*2000. "PhotoLA" Alison Holland Photography. Santa Monica Civic Centre, Santa Monica, USA.
*1999. "The Voice of the Print" Ansel Adams, Paul Capronigro, Brett Leigh Dicks, George Tice, Gordon Undy. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1999. "On the Street" Photographs by Lewis Morley and Brett Leigh Dicks Gallery 62 Robertosn, Brisbane, Australia.
*1999. "Items" Brett Leigh Dicks, Russell Kilbey, Paul Sutton. Level Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1999. "Trees" Paul Capronigro,, Brett Leigh Dicks, Gordon Undy, Ian Williams. Point Light Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1998. "Trance Endings" Brett Leigh Dicks, Wendy McDougall, Lewis Morley, Brendan Read. Lewis Morley Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
*1997. "Images of Australia" Brett Leigh Dicks, Max Dupain, David Moore, Gallery 131, Los Angeles, USA.
*1996. "Artsea" Brett Leigh Dicks, Wendy Sharp, Paula Talbot The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
Selected references
*Josef Woodard (2008). "All Work, Some Play", "Santa Barbara News Press", 11 April 2008.
*Darian Bleecher (2008). "Photographic Exhibition Celebrates Santa Barbara's Workforce", "Santa Barbara Independent", 6 March 2008.
* Heather Jeno (2007). “A Private Affair”, "Santa Barbara Independent", 17 May: 2007.
*Keri Bradford (2007). "Plane Shooter", "Santa Barbara News Press", 19 October 2007.
* Josef Woodard (2007). "Battleground Gallipoli", "Santa Barbara News Press", 25 May 2007.
* Keri Bradford (2007). "The Great War in Turkey", "Santa Barbara News Press", 4 May 2007.
*Jefferson Hawkins (2007). "The Battle of Gallipoli", "Santa Barbara News Press", 4 May 2007.
*Darain Bleecher (2006). "Winter In America". "The Santa Barbara Independent", 21 September 2006.
*Josef Woodard (2006). "Postwar Sightings", "Santa Barbara News Press", 8 September 2006.
*Josef Woodard (2005). "Photo Ops", "Santa Barbara News Press", 25 November 2005.
*Josef Woodard (2004). "Haunted Sites", "Santa Barbara News Press", 19 March 2004.
*Robert McFarlane (2003). "Village Life But Not As We Know It", "The Sydney Morning Herald", 7 April 2003.
*Robert McFarlane (2002). "These Snappers Pull Out All Stops", "The Sydney Morning Herald", 13 December 2001.
*Peter McNamara (2001). Poetic Views in Black and White", "The Courier Mail", 17 May 2001.
*Alex Craig (2000). "The Wall", "HQ Magazine", July 2000.
* Joni Taylor (1999). "About Berlin", "City Hub", 18 Novermber 1999.
*Phil Brown (1999). "In A Snapshot", "Brisbane Magazine", October 1999.
*Paul Burrows (1999). "Beyond Truth or Consequences", "ProPhoto Magazine, May 1999.
*Maj Fischer (1998). "Fotoabenteuer im Sudwestern", "Prinz", May 1998.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu