About

spiros coutroubas

Currently based in Canberra, I have been practising photography since the 1980s in Australia and abroad. My work focuses on portraiture and social documentary photography, particularly people and things that might not otherwise be recorded. I have concentrated on documenting people in their everyday environments but also in places such as festivals and shows, sporting events, and other significant occasions. My images are intended to document the present for the future. I am a graduate of the School of Art and Design in Canberra. My work includes a series of studio style portraits taken at the 1990 Canberra Show which are in the collection of the Parliamentary Library and are occasionally on display on the walls of Parliament House. My recent solo exhibitions highlighted my work in historical documentary photography. I am expanding my practice through the use of new tools, techniques and perspectives to evolve my interest in portraiture, history and the place of the photographic style in art.

exhibitions

Scenes From The Mall: Portraits of people and places in the Belconnen Mall, 1989-90
(1.dec.23 to 11.feb.24)

The 25 portraits in SCENES FROM THE MALL were exhibited at the Belconnen Arts Centre, very close to where the pictures were made. The exhibition included three sets of portraits, each documenting people in particular places in the Belconnen Mall. The Belconnen Mall is the largest shopping centre in Belconnen, a district on the north-west of Canberra, Australia’s national capital. The first series captures scenes at a stairwell landing, with passers-by pausing for the camera as they made their way through one of the mall’s parking areas. The next includes salespeople, promotional staff and performers working in the mall’s common areas and supermarkets. In the last series, regular customers of one of the mall’s cafes complement their photographs with handwritten messages that lend an extra dimension to their portraits. A seminar followed on 12.mar.2024 at the Australian National University’s Humanities Research Centre. It was entitled ‘Exploring the balance between recording history and storytelling in everyday life’.

'Scenes From The Mall', an exhibition of photographic portraits by Spiros Coutroubas, shown at Belco Arts from December 2023 until February 2024 — Spiros Coutroubas pictured at the exhibition ‘Scenes From The Mall’ at Belco Arts in December 2023.

'Scenes From The Mall', exhibition of photographic portraits by Spiros Coutroubas, Belco Arts, December 2023 until February 2024 — The opening of ‘Scenes From The Mall’, an exhibition of photographic portraits by Spiros Coutroubas, shown at Belco Arts from December 2023 until February 2024

Media and events:
ABC Radio interview (1.dec.2023)
Canberra Daily press article (18.jan.2024)

Working Peel Street: Images and Sound from the 1992 Tamworth Country Music Festival
(16.mar.22 to 7.may.22)

In partnership with the Tamworth Regional Gallery, I exhibited a series of portraits and street scenes from the 1992 Country Music Festival in Tamworth. It included 19 photographs and two video portraits. Peter Wright and I captured images and audio over a few days in Tamworth’s Peel Street. The exhibition coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Festival. The exhibition was attended by the Governor-General, David Hurley. In a significant gesture for the local community, the Governor-General acknowledged the Kelly Gang, a multi-generational family of Indigenous Australian musicians for the role they played in the festival since it began in 1972. Desmond Ahoy and his nan Maisie Kelly, both of the Kelly Gang, featured in the exhibition. The first picture below shows Desmond, the Governor-General, Peter and Spiros.

Media and events:
Northern Daily Leader press article (7.apr.2022)
Governor-General’s Diary (20.apr.2022)

Pirates of Petersham: Urban Figures
(27.jun.2025 thru 27.jul 2025)

Working with the incomparably authentic Newsagency Gallery in Petersham, the show featured a collection of urban-themed artworks and figures. It included six portraits from the RESEMBLANCE series – portraits of people created with ai, with messages from ai, about ai. The group exhibition showcased works in a variety of styles, including hand-picked images that play with themes of postmodern life, liminal architecture, and city inhabitants with vacant eyes filling spaces in which they never belong. The works are described as a “multi-medium pursuit of humanity in the inanimate,” highlighting a contrast between the “lifeless faces” of urban figures and the “human touch” of the artists’ processes. It turned out to be an urban triumph and was acknowledged by some as the highlight show of the year in Sydney.

books

I’ve published a couple of books based around recent exhibitions of my photographs. Admittedly, most of my pictures aren’t really home decor. Books provide an easier and more manageable way for people to take the images home. And besides, they provide a little of story and context behind the projects. There are two books for now – SCENES FROM THE MALL and PEEL STREET. You can buy the books on this website – go to my SHOP page (link below).

You can also buy SCENES FROM THE MALL from these good book shops:

National Library Bookshop
The Curatoreum at the National Portrait Gallery
Paperchain Bookstore, Manuka
Photo Access at the Manuka Arts Centre
The Belco Arts shop 118 Emu Bank in Belconnen