Don Dunstan – Norwood, Adelaide. 1993

An intimate portrait of one of Australia’s most progressive political figures.

Created at Don Dunstan’s Norwood home in 1993, just weeks before I left Australia to pursue my career in New York, this rare work is now available to collectors in limited editions, each hand-signed and numbered, and produced to museum standards on archival Hahnemühle fine art paper.

In my youthful naivety, I wrote to Dunstan addressing him as “Sir Donald Dunstan”. He phoned me personally to clarify. “Were you the Premier?” I asked nervously. He laughed and said yes. I replied, “Then you’re the one I hoped to photograph - and you should have been knighted.” He was incredibly gracious and invited me to his home for the session.

The work was created at a formative moment in my career. In 1992, I was awarded the Young Achiever Award for the Arts in South Australia, and on the strength of that recognition I began writing to figures I believed mattered culturally and historically, including Don Dunstan and the Bradmans. The letter to Dunstan, written with youthful confidence and no small amount of nerve, led directly to this sitting.

The portrait was made on Kodak colour negative film using a single-flash technique, something I later discovered had been favoured by Helmut Newton, one of my early influences. Just weeks after the sitting, I left Australia for New York, where I went on to work with Annie Leibovitz, Mary Ellen Mark and Mark Seliger.

More than three decades on, the portrait has retained its clarity, presence and relevance. It speaks not only to Dunstan’s enduring legacy, but to a moment when Australian portraiture was beginning to assert itself with confidence and independence.

This portrait is held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, and has since been featured by the Gallery in its public programming and curatorial interpretation.

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Edition Options

90 × 75 cm - Limited Edition of 10

• Edition size: 10 prints only
• Signature: Signed and numbered by Robin Sellick
• Image size: 90 × 75 cm (on 102 × 85 cm Hahnemühle fine art paper)
• Print process: Archival pigment inks from the original 1993 negative
• Certificate: Certificate of Authenticity included

Framed: $8,000
Museum-quality hardwood frame with archival mount board and UV-protective glazing, handcrafted to conservation standards to ensure long-term stability and colour integrity. Produced using acid-free materials, sealed against dust and humidity, and finished to gallery specifications. Ready to hang.

Unframed: $5,800

Worldwide shipping available, packed to museum standards and fully insured.

Recorded in The Sellick Archive for authenticity and future provenance.

For framing details, delivery timelines or additional information, contact me →

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50.3 × 42 cm - Limited Edition of 20

• Edition size: 20 prints only
• Signature: Signed and numbered by Robin Sellick
• Image size: 50.3 × 42 cm (on 60 × 50 cm Hahnemühle fine art paper)
• Print process: Archival pigment inks from the original 1993 negative
• Certificate: Certificate of Authenticity included

Framed: $4,200
Museum-quality hardwood frame with archival mount board and UV-protective glazing, handcrafted to conservation standards to ensure long-term stability and colour integrity. Produced using acid-free materials, sealed against dust and humidity, and finished to gallery specifications. Ready to hang.

Unframed: $2,200

Worldwide shipping available, packed to museum standards and fully insured.

Recorded in The Sellick Archive for authenticity and future provenance.

For framing details, delivery timelines or additional information, contact me →

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Edition Policy

Two distinct editions are available - 50.3 × 42 cm (20 prints) and 90 × 75 cm (10 prints). Each edition is strictly limited, signed and numbered, and will never be produced again in these sizes or formats. Every work is formally recorded in The Sellick Archive for authenticity and provenance.
View Collector’s Edition Standards →