Untitled (Hairstyle Portrait #5)

by Dick Oulton

Published in collaboration with
Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver
November 2008
Inkjet C-print

22” x 15”, 55.8 x 38.1 cm

Numbered edition of 12, plus 3 artists proofs.

Richard (Dick) Oulton (1918-2000) was a commercial photographer who worked out of Vancouver from the late 50s to the mid 80s. He operated under a variety of names—Dick Oulton Studio, Dick Oulton Photography and Ricardo Photographic Services—advertising services for weddings, portraits, passports, photo restoration and commercial photography. Located in downtown Vancouver, the studio was also his home until 1994. A bachelor who had an eye for attractive ladies and a flair for fashion Oulton continued to photograph until his death.

At the mid-point of his career Oulton was hired as the official photographer for the BC Hairdressers Association, for which he photographed the woman featured in this edition. Culled from his vast archive of ”head shots”, these two photographs allude to the numerous images Oulton would generate during each studio session. Like most commercial photographers of the period Oulton had a standardized set of poses he liked his models to assume and images of women leaning on (or over) props was one of the most common motifs from his repertoire.

$700 (unframed)

Each edition includes a copy of the artist book Meet Dick Oulton: Lynn Valley 5