Earlier this year I received a call from Ron Bickley about some cameras he had. Now I get a call every week about the donation of cameras as people everywhere decide to finally part with their still or motion film cameras as they make the final transition from photography to digital image making.
Ron’s story was a big one. Ron’s cameras were the tools of his trade and he plied his trade for four decades, photographing every horse and greyhound to win a race at most track meetings in the Sydney metropolitan area and beyond including Harold Park, Wentworth Park, Wyong, Wollongong, Newcastle, Canterbury, Rose Hill, Randwick and Warwick Farm. Four of Ron’s cameras, used from 1946 until the early 1970s, were Speed Graphics.
I have been at the Museum since 1996 and this was the first offer I had fielded for a Speed Graphic. What is so special about the Speed Graphic? The Speed Graphic is often vaunted as the press camera of the mid twentieth century and this reputation is well deserved. The Pulitzer Prizes for photography for the years 1942-1954 were taken with Speed Graphic cameras.
So I made the trip to San Souci, Sydney to visit Ron. It was a very hot and humid Sydney day and we spent a bit of time in his shed talking about his work and looking at the cameras. Inside the shed the temperature rose with no breeze and my eyes occasionally drifted to the inviting sight of Ron’s gleaming swimming pool as perspiration enveloped me. Back in the house I got a long cool drink and Ron showed me some photographs from the day and that’s where this fantastic shot comes from.
Photograph of Ron at the track with some colleagues all holding Speed Graphic cameras (except far left – English Speed Graphic look-a-like), leaning over the fence in front of the stand at Randwick racecourse. Left to right: P. Percival, Peter Hardacre, Ron Bickley, B. Mullaney, A. (Spider) Funnel, A. Bullard, Roy McGuinness”
The photograph gives you an indication of the popularity of this camera. The Speed Graphic was most suitable for professional, press and photo journalist use. The qualities that made this camera the choice of press and photo journalists include its tough, fail proof mechanics; excellent results; the ability to fold into a strong, compact box; its ease of use as a hand held and to track a moving object; plus lenses could be easily interchanged.
