Dick Oulton Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1918 - d. 2000

Dick Oulton was a commercial photographer who worked out of Vancouver from the late 1950s to the mid 1980s. He operated under a variety of names, advertising services for weddings, portraits, passports, photographic restoration and commercial photography.

A bachelor who had an eye for attractive ladies and a flair for fashion, Oulton continued to photograph until his death. It is a rich social and historical document of middle-class life. His forte was portraiture and glamour shots, usually of attractive young women.

This selection of Dick Oulton’s photographs, which reveals the commercial and vernacular imperatives of his production, showcases the idiosyncratic power of his images.

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    • Dick Oulton, Those Wonderful Years, General Motors Car Dealership, 1962
      Aug. 22, 2021

      Dick Oulton, Those Wonderful Years, General Motors Car Dealership, 1962

      Est: $200 - $300

      Richard Oulton (1918-2000) was a commercial photographer who worked in Vancouver, Canada from 1962 to 1994, operating under a variety of names—Dick Oulton Studio, Dick Oulton Photography and Ricardo Photographic Services—advertising services for weddings, portraits, passports, photographic restoration and commercial photography. Located on West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver, the studio was also his home. When Oulton was hospitalized shortly before his death, he was forced to abandon his studio, and with it his life’s work. A bachelor, he left no heirs, and it was only the alertness of two friends who saved ten boxes of his photographs and negatives from destruction. These were subsequently offered to Presentation House Gallery, whose staff unsuccessfully sought a permanent home for it in local city archives. Oulton’s photographs remain with the Gallery today. This vast trove of images is unedited, with few “final” shots. Portraiture, including weddings, publicity and fashion shoots, is predominate. Oulton’s forte was glamour photography, and he maintained an avid interest in certain female models, many of whom were likely his friends. He shot products for advertising, from widgets to prayer beads, as well as industrial products, building sites, nightclubs, wrestling matches, hairdressing championships, promotions, and visiting celebrities. His eclecticism is indicative of the role of a professional mid-century photographer, one who worked to produce imagery for an emerging middle class. Taken together, Oulton’s photographs form an oblique social and historical picture of Vancouver at a moment when the city was mutating from a working class logging town into one with metropolitan aspirations.

      4th Meridian Fine Art
    • Dick Oulton, Those Wonderful Years, General Motors Car Dealership, 1962
      Dec. 06, 2020

      Dick Oulton, Those Wonderful Years, General Motors Car Dealership, 1962

      Est: $250 - $350

      Richard Oulton (1918-2000) was a commercial photographer who worked in Vancouver, Canada from 1962 to 1994, operating under a variety of names—Dick Oulton Studio, Dick Oulton Photography and Ricardo Photographic Services—advertising services for weddings, portraits, passports, photographic restoration and commercial photography. Located on West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver, the studio was also his home. When Oulton was hospitalized shortly before his death, he was forced to abandon his studio, and with it his life’s work. A bachelor, he left no heirs, and it was only the alertness of two friends who saved ten boxes of his photographs and negatives from destruction. These were subsequently offered to Presentation House Gallery, whose staff unsuccessfully sought a permanent home for it in local city archives. Oulton’s photographs remain with the Gallery today. This vast trove of images is unedited, with few “final” shots. Portraiture, including weddings, publicity and fashion shoots, is predominate. Oulton’s forte was glamour photography, and he maintained an avid interest in certain female models, many of whom were likely his friends. He shot products for advertising, from widgets to prayer beads, as well as industrial products, building sites, nightclubs, wrestling matches, hairdressing championships, promotions, and visiting celebrities. His eclecticism is indicative of the role of a professional mid-century photographer, one who worked to produce imagery for an emerging middle class. Taken together, Oulton’s photographs form an oblique social and historical picture of Vancouver at a moment when the city was mutating from a working class logging town into one with metropolitan aspirations.

      4th Meridian Fine Art
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