POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Taking a leak' photograph of Clyde Packer and Barry Humphreys at Luna Park by Janice Wakely

Object No. 97/272/1-2/14

This black and white photograph captures a lighter side of two Australian personalities, Clyde Packer and Barry Humphries, skylarking at the urinals in Luna Park, Melbourne. Clyde Packer, who was the son of media proprietor Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer and older brother of Kerry, appears in the black jacket on left and Barry Humphries, performer, (aka Dame Edna Everidge) wears the grey suit and black hat and is on the right, turning to face camera. Packer and Humphries had a long relationship, with Packer managing Humphries at one time in his career, and Humphries reading the eulogy at Packer's funeral after his death in 2001. The photograph was taken by Janice Wakely in 1976 for the exhibition, Double Take: Famous people photographing other famous people. However, the image, which was entitled Taking a leak, didn't appear in the exhibition. The shot is part of the Janice Wakely Archive, which broadly documents the Australian model's career, including original vintage photographs and press-clippings documenting both Janice Wakely's personal progression and the wider modelling world, and then her successful transition into fashion photography. Newspaper articles and the models diaries provide extensive documentation. Material such as this is invaluable as context for the Australian fashion world in the 1950s and 1960s. Susan Cairns, Digital Services volunteer, 2011