Jane Campion DNZM (b. 1954), director, producer and screenwriter, is the first woman to win the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the second woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, both for her acclaimed film The Piano (1993). After attending the Australian Film Television and Radio School in the early 1980s, by 1986 Campion had won her first Short Film Palme d'Or at Cannes for Peel (1982) and made her first film for television, Two Friends. Her feature film debut Sweetie (1989) won several awards; An Angel at my Table (1990), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Holy Smoke! (1999), In the Cut (2003) and Bright Star (2009) followed. Campion created the television series, Top of the Lake (2013), which won several awards and led to a sequel, Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017). Her first film in more than a decade The Power of the Dog (2021) stars Benedict Cumberbatch.
Peter Brew-Bevan photographed Campion for Good Weekend magazine, in the Shakespeare Room at the State Library of New South Wales. 'The thing that struck me when I had this session with her was her apparent shyness in front of the lens … I proceeded to have a very calm, almost nurturing shoot. Everything was very still and gentle, which allowed me to create this incredibly calm portrait.'
Purchased 2011
© Peter Brew-Bevan
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a
Reproduction request. For further information please contact
NPG Copyright.
