Henry Talbot

Returning to Australia in 1950 Talbot worked as a photographer, setting up a Melbourne studio in 1956 with Helmut Newton a fellow refugee whom he had met while fruit picking in Tocumwal after his release from internment. The studio specialised in fashion and advertising. During this time, Helmut declared to Henry that he was "going to move to Europe and become the greatest photographer in the world", and asked Henry if he would look after the studio in his absence. Henry agreed. Helmut left Australia permanently in May 1961, opting out of the informal partnership with Talbot (paid out with ‘two thousand dollars and two cameras’), and established himself in Europe while Henry took over the business, of a company named Helmut Newton & Henry Talbot Pty Ltd which was formally registered as a company 28 June 1963 and operated at Bourke Street until April 1966, when it moved to La Trobe Street, operating until 1976. Talbot photographed various Australian Olympic figures, including gold medallist Dawn Fraser in the Olympic pool in Melbourne during the 1956 Summer Olympics and Franz Stampfl, whom he knew through the Hay internment and who trained Roger Bannister for his four-minute mile record. Other famous Australian models included Penny Pardey and Judy O'Connell, house models for Pierre Cardin, in 1967. During this period he was commissioned by the Australian Wool Board, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Kent Cigarettes and General Motors, among other brands. He also portrayed significant leading Australian professionals including art historian Gael Newton.

Henry became Head of the Photography Department at the School of Art and Design at Preston (later Phillip) Institute of Technology, Melbourne (1973–1985), employing and teaching with younger photographers Mark Strizic and with Carol Jerrems, who also modelled for him. In 1972, Talbot jointly showed these images of Jerrems, including some nude portraits and figure studies, alongside the work of 23-year-old Jerrems', in Two Views of Erotica – Carol Jerrems & Henry Talbot, which was the inaugural exhibition of Rennie Ellis' Toorak gallery Brummels (Australia’s first dedicated photography gallery). The show was opened by photographer/filmmaker Paul Cox. Ellis, a notorious provocateur, selected Talbot and Jerrems to attract attention to the new gallery.

• 1958 Fashion Photographer of the Year, Australian Fashion News • 1963 C.S. Christian Trophy, Australian Photographic Society • 1965 A.P.R. Achievement in Photography Award • 1967 Award of Distinction, Pacific Photographic Fair • 1968 Distinctive Merit Award, Art Directors Club of Melbourne • Awarded E (Excellence) by Honours Committee of Federation internationale de l'Art Photographique.