Monthly Archive for July, 2008

This image was taken in Martin Place in the centre of the Sydney CBD. It was shot at 1/125 of a second at f2.8 whilst using the 17-35mm zoom lens set at 17mm. This is the first of many images that we will post that have been shot for a variety of purposes to coincide with our upcoming exhibition Modern Times; the untold story of modernism in Australia. The Museum photographers have visited some iconic landmarks in Sydney and documented them in a modernist style whilst drawing on photography from that era. We are going to celebrate this by posting lots of images highlighting architectural details, cityscapes and a series of images relating to swimming pools of the era, but with a contemporary feel. Check our Flickr account as we will be loading them there too.

File #00z28756

Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

This simple, graphic architectural detail of the arched roof at the Powerhouse Museum was taken when it was painted yellow shortly before the Museum opened in 1988. This section of the Museum known as the Wran building, after the former premier who had initiated the project, was photographed on medium format colour transparency. At this time the Museum, designed by architect Lionel Glendenning, had many architectural features painted bright colours including the colonnade along Harris Street. These colours don’t exist today and the Museum is a more minimalist white.

This image was taken for the publication Yesterday’s tomorrows: the Powerhouse Museum and its precursors 1880-2005.

File# 00221594

Photography by Jaime Plaza
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

This image is of a Lemon Myrtle tree seedling, also known as ‘Backhousia citriodora’ was photographed in the studio at the Museum. The Australian National Botanic gardens reports the Backhousia genus has seven species and this particular native tree is also referred to as Lemon Ironwood, Lemon-scented Myrtle and Sweet Verbena Tree.

This image is a composite shot with the background having been taken on the NSW South Coast; the two images have then been layered together in Photoshop. This has been photographed for National Tree Day which is held on the last Sunday each July. This is the biggest community, tree-planting effort by many Australians around the nation. It aims to educate people on the benefits of planting native trees to reduce serious environmental issues, such as salinity and erosion and promote the benefits this type of planting has for native fauna.

File #00×09597

Photography by Geoff Friend
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

This is a busy day down at Coogee beach back at the turn of the century. Perhaps these people along the esplanade are watching a swimming carnival or this may have been a typical summer’s day there. Some things I noticed whilst researching the image are the men carrying baskets of goods , the fenced off ‘Ladies only’ area close to the esplanade and the large amount of bicycles lined up against the rails near the change-rooms, down on the beach.

Randwick City Council has some great images and information on the way Coogee beach developed after this image was taken including the amazing Pier that was constructed and opened in 1928. It featured a theatre, ballroom, restaurant, nursery and shops only to be demolished in 1933.

This image of Coogee Bay was taken c.1884-1917 by Kerry and Co and comes from our Tyrrell photographic collection. Charles Kerry opened his own studio in 1884; this evolved into Kerry and Co c.1893-1901 and closed in 1917. This image was posted to the Commons project on Flickr yesterday.

No known copyright restrictions

This shot of an Emu was taken at Yeoval, NSW, a small town south of Dubbo near Molong and Orange. Yeoval being famous for the place that ‘Banjo’ Paterson spent his early childhood on a local property. At the time the Museum photographer was on location shooting for the exhibition and publication, Women with Wings: portraits of Australian women pilots. Obviously this image was not intended for this exhibition but rather an opportunity not to be missed by Sue.

The Emu, also known as Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest native bird to Australia and common over most of Australia. This flightless bird can reach heights of up to 2m. You can get some facts incuding the habitat, behaviour, breeding and distribution of the Emu from Australian Museum online.

File# 00224662

Photography by Sue Stafford
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0