The State Library of Victoria has acquired over 60,000 images by the maverick documentary/street photography legend, Rennie Ellis.

Girl and Dog in Supermarkert, Toorak Rd. c.1970. New acquisition. Photo: Rennie Ellis.

This acquisition marks the final piece of the Library’s Ellis Archive, which totals over half a million images – the largest photo collection held by the institution.

Best known for his fly-on-the-wall photography of celebrities, models, nightclubs and Australian suburbia, Ellis was the social documentarian of an era, capturing every slice of Australian life over a 30-year period.

The images come in the form of prints, negatives, slides, and books including Life’s A Beach, Life’s A Parade, and Railway Stations of Australia – which are being digitised and made available online.

‘Rennie Ellis’ images span an incredible breadth of time and depth of subject matter,’ said Jo Ritale, State Library Victoria’s head of collections. ‘From the late 1960s to 2003 he captured Australia at its most extraordinary and its most everyday – whether it was backstage at a drag show, at a party with the rich and famous or down at Victoria Market with a fruit seller – Rennie was there. His archive is unique as it provides a view of the post-war generation in Australia from a photographer completely immersed in the culture he was recording.

‘It has taken over seven years to transfer this historically important collection to the Library, and we’re honoured to be able to preserve it and make it accessible to the people of Victoria.’

Children Unite, Sth Melbourne 1974. New acquisition. Photo: Rennie Ellis.

Manuela Furci, the director of Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive, is delighted the State Library of Victoria has a permanent home for the majority of Ellis’ work.

‘Rennie stated in his will that he wanted State Library Victoria to be the custodians of his archive, and it’s wonderful that this has come to pass. Rennie would be overjoyed to know that his body of work will be preserved for future generations and is now being made accessible to all.’