Gervais Purcell (1919-1999) was a respected Australian commercial photographer who worked from the 1940s with retailers like David Jones and Hordern Bros, radio technology manufacturer Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA), swimwear manufacturer Jantzen, tourism operator Ansett Airways, and cruise ship operators P&O.
Gervais’ camera and some of his swimwear fashion photographs were featured in the popular ANMM travelling exhibition Exposed! the story of swimwear of 2009.

The photos in this collection are a part of the 3000 images gifted to the Museum by Gervais’ son Leigh Purcell in 2012.
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