Portrait of an elderly man and daughter
Samuel Scoufos
- Sitter: Walter Brunner
- Medium: Giclee Print
- Dimensions: 65 x 80 cm
- Representation: The artist represents themselves
About the artist
Originally from Santa Rosa, California, Samuel Scoufos grew up on skateboards, played a lot of baseball and made home movies with the neighbourhood kids. Later, as a teenager he would enjoy playing saxophone in the smoke filled clubs of San Francisco with a 10-piece swing band. Even later he would realise that trains in rural France only stop briefly and jumping from one isn’t such a good idea unless your future wife happens to be on the platform. He enjoys making pictures for a living and hanging out with his family on their farm in Australia. He is an award-winning artist and won key awards for his advertising work. In 2018 he took out the top prize at the Moreton Bay Art Awards for his image Portrait of a Greek man and son. His work has been selected in the prestigious Moran Contemporary Art Prize, JUWS Photography Award, Clayton Utz Art Prize, the 38th Alice Prize, Percival Photographic Prize, Churchie Art Prize, Olive Cotton Award and the Sunshine Coast Art Prize.
About the sitter
Walter Brunner was 97 years old when he passed away. He served his country in WWII as an Air Force Pilot. He was a filmmaker and photographer and made his living as a well borer on the Darling Downs and in Papua New Guinea. Up until June this year, he was cared for full-time by his daughter since the start of the year. He suffered from dementia and was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Samuel Scoufos says of the portrait: “He is also my wife’s grandfather. This portrait to me is about recording a genuine moment of tenderness between Father and Daughter as she cared for him. It represents the true cyclical nature of growing up, ageing and demonstrates the vulnerability of the elderly. Walter was in the safe and loving care of his family during the twilight of his life.”
