The Photograph and Australia

(Hardback)

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Description

From its beginnings in the 19th century to today's digital revolution, The Photograph and Australia investigates how photography was harnessed to create the idea of a nation. It reveals how Australia's view of the world and itself has been changed by the advent of photography which paralleled the development of the colonies and the relationships between settlers and Indigenous Australians.

Taking a thematic approach, the book encourages the reader to explore connections - between different forms of photography, people and place, past and present. It features renowned artists such as Richard Daintree, Charles Bayliss, Frank Hurley, Harold Cazneaux, Olive Cotton, Max Dupain, Sue Ford, Carol Jerrems, Rosemary Laing, Tracey Moffatt, Ricky Maynard, Patrick Pound and Robyn Stacey, among many others. Their work is reproduced alongside that of unknown photographers in cartes de visite, government and family albums and, early scientific and astronomical photography.

Above all, this publication reminds the reader of the sense of wonder that the photograph can still induce with its ability to capture both things of the world and those of the imagination.

Visually rich with fine reproductions, The Photograph and Australia will not only be an important addition to the scholarship on Australian photography but a valued addition to the bookshelves of photography experts, lovers of photography and history.

Reviews

[A] noble attempt to account for the continent's entire photographic history, little of which is well known to the rest of the world. -- Luc Sante New York Times Book Review

Author Bio

Judy Annear is senior curator, photographs at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Geoffrey Batchen is professor of art history at Victorial University. Michael Aird works as a curator, researcher, and writer in the area of Aboriginal arts and cultural heritage. Kathleen Davidson is an independent photo scholar. Martyn Jolly is head of photography and media arts at the ANU School of Art. Jane Lydon is an Australian Research Council Fellow athe the Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History at the University of Western Australia. Daniel Palmer is associate dean of graduate research and senior lecturer in the art history and theory program at MADA, Monash Art Design and Architecture.