The Sydney photographer has roved beaches across the globe for his exhibition Summer: Bondi to Barcelona which opens at Albury’s MAMA gallery on Thursday.

But he says his father Max Dupain’s The Sunbaker was not an influence on his compositions.

“It had nothing to do with it,” Dupain said.

“It was a different era, black and white, this is all colour, it’s about being alive today with these images.

“(There’s) girls having a shower, this guy with a metal detector – it’s all very contemporary stuff.

“It’s interesting going to these places and you go with an idea in mind and you come back with something completely different, which is really exciting.”

Dupain found himself wanting to reflect beach and street culture in summertime.

“I went to Harlem and Coney Island and the Bay of Naples and Barcelona and Brighton in England and of course Sydney,” Dupain said.

“Beach culture is very lively these days – there’s lots of outdoor gyms, a lot of activities which I find really interesting to see groups of people participating in certain activities that are physical.

“They’ve got costumes on, the sun’s on them and it’s an excuse for me to capture sculptural images.”

It’s Dupain’s first solo show at MAMA, a building which featured in its previous guise as council chambers in Max Dupain’s streetscapes of Albury in the 1930s.

However, Rex Dupain would prefer nature to the built environment if he was to photograph the Border.

“If I came back to Albury I would love to go to the weir and the dam and look at the Murray River,” he said.

“How that river snakes through all that beautiful Australian landscape, I thought it was breathtaking actually.”

Summer: Bondi to Barcelona is on display in an upstairs gallery until April 2.

All the images are for sale with a buyers’ preview with Dupain to be held from 5.30pm Thursday.