This photographic negative was taken by the Sydney based photographer Henry King. It is part of a collection of over 1300 glass plates taken between 1880 and 1917, although most appear to have been made in the late 1880s and 1890s

King was one of the Colony's most significant early photographers and although born in England around 1855 grew up in Sydney. He found work with the well-known Sydney photographer J. Hubert Newman and in 1880 established a studio in partnership with William Slade. Four years later he was sole proprietor.

King quickly established a reputation for himself due to the high quality of his finished work. While King's income, like many other photographers, was dependent on portraiture he, like Kerry, is best known for his outdoor work. These views, particularly his city views, are justifiably praised and seem more carefully framed and printed than Kerry's. Outdoor views of Sydney make up the main bulk of King's work in the collection although, like Kerry, he took a series of photographs of the Jenolan Caves using magnesium flares.

Henry King died aged 68 in Waverley War Memorial Hospital on 22 May 1923 following abdominal surgery

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, December, 2008

References
King, Richard, Australian Dictionary of Biography - Online Edition
Joseph Leibovic, Henry King, 1855 - 1923, auction catalogue, Joesph Leibovic Gallery, Paddington, Australia, date unknown
Newton, Gael, Shades of Light; Photography and Australia 1839 - 1988, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, 1988

Henry King became sole proprietor of a photographic studio in George Street in 1880. Henry King's studio closed around 1900 and Charles Kerry acquired some of his negatives.

This photograph is one of 1334 Henry King photographs which are also part of a larger collection of 7,900 negatives once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell. After King's death in 1923 the studio collection of glass negatives was purchased by Tyrrell.

In addition to the Henry King images, the Tyrrell Collection at the Powerhouse Museum includes glass plate negatives published by Kerry & Co. Studio and a number of other negatives by unattributed photographers. James Tyrrell used the images by Kerry & Co. and Henry King to produce his own booklets and views of New South Wales but although full of iconic Australian images, the collection does not appear to have been fully utilised by Tyrrell.

The photographic collection acquired by Tyrrell was purchased by Australian Consolidated Press and its new owners almost immediately set about producing a limited series of complete sets of contact prints of the collection for libraries and museums in New South Wales. Housed in boxes copies of these were given to the State Library of New South Wales and the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney.

In 1985 Australian Consolidated Press donated the collection to the Powerhouse Museum. The collection at this time consisted of 7,903 glass plate negatives and 7,916 contact positive prints. Of these 493 glass plates were damaged but usable and 13 plates totally broken.

Geoff Barker, Curatorial, December, 2008

Photographic positive, whole plate, Indigenous Australian man from the Clarence River District, glass / silver gelatin emulsion, photographed by Charles Kerry, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1895-1900

A glass plate positive in portrait format. The image shows a portrait of an Indigenous Australian man photographed in a studio setting. The man has a full beard and moustache and scars can be seen on his left upper arm. The man has been photographed in front of a plain back drop. The caption, studio number and studio mark are inscribed within the image.

75/275 Tyrrell Inventory Number, 644 King Studio Number

Made: King, Henry; Australia; 1855 - 1900

Used: King, Henry;

Used: Tyrrell, James Robert;

Used: Tyrrells Bookshop;

Used: Australian Consolidated Press;

Handwritten caption and studio number across the bottom of the negative reads '644 AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL CLARENCE RIVER NSW (H KING PHOTO SYD)'.

85/1285-504

1855 - 1900

165 mm