founding members of the Sydney Camera Circle, in 1916. Like Hurley, this group was heavily influenced by the Pictorialist approach to photography. Their Pictorialist approach was adapted to the Australian environment and its strong sunlight; this group of photographers pledged "to work and to advance pictorial photography and to show our own Australia in terms of sunlight rather than those of greyness and dismal shadows", imparting a distinctive Australian perspective to their work. In Melbourne founder of the Victorian Photographic Salon in 1929 and Pictorialist Dr Julian Smith's melodramatic and heavily printed portraits and theatrical 'character studies' brought him international fame in salons. Pictorialist photographer Robert Vere Scott, influenced by the visit to Australia of noted American aerial panoramic photographer Melvin Vaniman in 1903-1904, began taking pictures in a similar panoramic format, before leaving Australia in 1918. Rose Simmonds, working in Brisbane during the 1920s and 1930s, was also a leading Pictorialist photographer. Trained as an artist, she only took up photography after her marriage. During the 1930s and 1940s, Max Dupain, created images of Australian life, most notably his 1937 photograph, Sunbaker. Dupain had learned his craft, while apprenticed to the Pictorialist Cecil Bostock, but abandoned the soft-focus pictorial style for a sharp-focus modernist approach. His companion and assistant Olive Cotton became a leading photographer in her own right. In the mid-20th century, the photographic scene in Australia was shaped by modernist influences from abroad. This period saw an influx of people from Europe, including Wolfgang Sievers, Helmut Newton and Henry Talbot. They settled in Melbourne, bringing with them a modern aesthetic and new skills from their training at influential schools such as Berlin’s Reimann School and Contemporary School of Applied Arts. A vibrant and creative culture emerged with many photographers establishing commercial studios around the thriving arts precinct in Collins Street in buildings such as the Grosvenor Chambers. After the war, Wolfgang Sievers and Helmut Newton set up studios in Collins Street and Flinders Lane respectively. Other influential photographers such as Athol Shmith, Dr Julian Smith and Norman Ikin set up studios nearby. 21st century photography The contemporary photography industry in Australia is highly competitive. In the 2011 Australian Census, 9,549 respondents indicated photographer as their main job. References