Early Years

Moore was born in Vaucluse, Sydney, Australia, the second son of Dorothy and architect John Moore. He was educated at Tudor House primary school, Australia’s only preparatory boarding School. At age eleven, he was given a Coronet box camera. His father then gave him a Kodak 1A folding camera, further encouraging his son’s interest in photography.

With the Kodak 1A, he photographed a fellow Geelong Grammar student and future Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, sailing a toy yacht^. Moore also used it to make a self-portrait aged 15 while studying at Geelong Grammar School from 1939-1945. After turning eighteen, he enlisted in the Navy and served 18 months as an ordinary seaman on the destroyer HMAS Bataan.

Documentary Photography

Consequently, as he delved into the documentary work of photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, Moore was inspired to capture the reality of his own city. As a result, in 1949, armed with a borrowed speed graphic camera from Dupain, he roamed the streets of Redfern in Sydney’s inner west to capture its essence. While in Redfern, a woman mistook him for a newspaper employee and asked him to take pictures of a gloomy setting in a terrace house typical of the suburban area.

She led him to a bedroom that epitomised the living conditions of many slum dwellers in Sydney. The walls with cracks and stains, a double bed, and a rudimentary baby cradle with a ragged canvas base. After processing the film, Moore was overcome with guilt for invading their lives under false pretences. He even considered destroying the negatives. Some years later, this now iconic photograph of life in a Sydney slum was included in Edward Steichen’s exhibition Family of Man.

A photography career

In 1947 Moore abandoned his architecture studies and decided on photography as his career. He began his professional photographic career in Sydney at Russell Roberts’ studio in 1947. In 1948 he worked with Max Dupain on architectural, commercial and industrial assignments. In 1951 Dupain offered him a junior partnership; however, he declined and decided to move to London.  

During the 1950s, Moore became the first Australian photojournalist to work for various international picture magazines. He resided in the UK for seven years and captured photographs while on assignment in Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, and the USA. Several reputable journals, including The Observer, Sports Illustrated, Time-Life, Look, and The New York Times published his work.

Additionally, Moore was one of only two Australian photographers (the other being Laurence LeGuay) to be included in the Family of Man exhibition at MOMA in New York in 1955. The exhibition also included photographers such as Ansel Adams and Margaret Bourke-White. That same year he married Jennifer Flintoff. They had four children before divorcing in 1968.

Returning to Australia

After seven successful years freelancing in London, Moore and his wife Jenny sailed back to Australia in 1957. He opened his studio in North Sydney with designers Gordon Andrews and Harry Williamson, a collaboration lasting 15 years. In 1974 Moore was one of the prime movers in establishing the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington.

Moore’s photographs have been published in numerous books and are included in many Australian collections, including those of the Australian National Gallery. The New York Museum of Modern Art, Le Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, and the Smithsonian in Washington DC also hold collections of his work.

Like Max Dupain’s 1937 iconic Sunbaker, several of Moore’s works encapsulate a moment in Australia’s ‘growing up. For example, his Migrants arriving in Sydney in 1966 symbolised Australia’s growing multiculturalism. While Prime Minister Holt at Canberra Airport in 1966, submissively bowing to Lyndon B Johnson demonstrated the Holt policy of “All the way, with LBJ” and the Vietnam War.

Soft Flow of Time

“Soft Flow of Time” by David Moore is a celebrated collection of photographs that captures the essence of everyday life in post-war Australia during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is regarded as one of his most notable works. The series evokes a strong sense of nostalgia and emphasises the passing of time. These photographs starkly contrast with the ‘decisive moment’ style promoted by Henri Cartier-Bresson, which was popular among publishers then. As a classic of Australian photography, this collection is considered vital era documentation.

End of an Era

In 20age of seventy-five, Moore passed away due to oesophageal cancer, marking the end of the first era of modern documentary photography in Australia. Shortly after passing, a major retrospective of his life and work opened at the National Gallery of Australia. In honour of his legacy, Moore’s children generously donated many of his works to the State Library of New South Wales. To this day, his daughter Lisa manages his archive and ensures its preservation.

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