Monthly Archive for April, 2009

Page 2 of 3

Frontispiece for publication ‘Transit of Venus 1874′, Sydney, 1892

Published by Paula Bray on April 20, 2009 0 Comments

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In 1872 H. C. Russell was approved 1000 pounds by the New South Wales Government to make observations and photograph the 1874 Transit of Venus. By 1874 the instruments were ready and Russell had selected astronomers and photographers to form four separate observing parties. Observation stations were situated at Woodford in the Blue Mountains, Eden on the south coast, Goulburn on the tablelands south of Sydney and at the Sydney Observatory itself.

The group of observers at these locations were a mixture of government officers, scientists, amateur astronomers, photographers, and builders. Although made later in 1892 this glass plate negative is a composite of portraits of many of those involved in the 1874 observations in New South Wales.

No known copyright restrictions
Post by Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator

Whispering Gully

Published by Paula Bray on April 19, 2009 4 Comments

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This is one of the images from the Tyrrell Collection that was taken on the NSW South Coast. At the bottom of the photo there is written ’1785. Whispering Gully, Shellharbour. Kerry. Photo: Sydney”. Research by the local studies librarians from the Wollongong City Library [link http://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library.asp ] indicates however that the correct name of the place shown on this photograph most likely is Whispering Gallery. Wollongong Library has in its collection not only a postcard with the same photograph, but also another photograph (part of the Weston Collection) depicting the same location and titled Whispering Gallery.
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A search on the Geographical Names Board of NSW shows that the name “Whispering Gallery” was formally assigned to “’a locality about 2 km WSW of Gooseberry Hill locality and 4 km SE of Tullimbar” in 1996 but the term “Whispering Gallery” appears in the local papers as early as 1872. The article in Illawarra Mercury on the 10th of May 1872 reads [Whispering Gallery] “is on a creek which runs through Mr Farraher’s farm, about three miles from Jamberoo, on the bridle path to Shellharbor [sic]. The bed of the creek has been sunk and severed by some convulsion of Nature, so as to leave a deep circular space in which a regiment might bivouac – a cave of some seventy or eighty yards in circumference, and over which there flows a stream of water that falls in a cascade into the abyss below, and escapes from it by a broken valley leading towards the sea. The walls of this cave are many feet in depth, and so smooth that a whisper can be heard from one end of the circuit to the other (…)”.

In the following years Whispering Gallery was mentioned in the local newspapers on several occasions as a tourist attraction worth calling on whilst visiting Kiama’s Blow Hole or Minnamurra Falls (e.g. Kiama Reporter, 1887 & 1927; Sydney Mail 1872; Kiama Independent & Daily Telegraph 1909). Illawarra index [ link ] on the Wollongong City Library shows detailed records of those publications.

For me the most eye-catching feature of this photograph is striking disproportion between the trees, rock formations and the two women in the background – they look small, insignificant and barely distinguishable from their surroundings.

Photography by Charles Kerry Studio
No known copyright restrictions
Post by Iwona Hetherington, Rights and Permissions Officer

Lansdowne Hotel

Published by Paula Bray on April 18, 2009 3 Comments

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This photograph of the exterior of the Lansdowne Hotel, at the corner of Broadway and City Road, Chippendale, is from the archive of the architect Sidney Warden, who designed the building. The photograph was taken by the commercial photographer Milton Kent in 1926. The majority of photographs in the Warden archive were commissioned by Warden for publication in architectural and building industry journals of the time. In this case, the photograph appeared in a 1926 edition of Building. To the far left of the hotel is part of what was then the Grace Bros department store (now the Unilodge building), while to the right, in the background, is a smoking chimney of the Tooth and Co. Kent Brewery. The Lansdowne is still standing and is just one of many well-known (mostly Sydney) establishments which feature in the archive. Photographs from the Warden archive may be viewed through the Powerhouse Museum website, and will soon be available at The Commons.

For more information on this hotel our Curator Charles Pickett has done an interview on ABC Sydney.

Photography by Milton Kent, Sydney
No known copyright restrictions
Post by Jessica McLean, Project Archivist

Observatory Advisory Board at Mt Wilson

Published by Paula Bray on April 17, 2009 0 Comments

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This stereoscopic photograph of the Observatory Advisory Board was taken at Mount Wilson in New South Wales on 20 May 1907. This was when Alfred Lenehan, the Government Astronomer at Sydney Observatory was looking for a new site for Sydney Observatory and in it we can see E. Du Faur, C. J. Merfield, W. I. Macdonnell; all of whom were members of the Board. H. A. Lenehan is standing in front of the cairn on top of Mount Canobolas. All this effort came to nought however as the project was put on hold soon after this photograph was taken.

Photography by J. Brooks
No known copyright restrictions
Post by Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator

Western distributor, the colors of concrete

Published by Paula Bray on April 16, 2009 0 Comments

Photo N¼: 00z33178 (300K)

The concrete is not gray. The concrete reflects the colors of paving, of bricks and of any surfaces that surround it. Everything is heavy and solid in the concrete world. A metallic pole leans sideway under the Western distributor as if it was slowly squeezed by the heaviness of the motorway and of the concrete world.

Photography & post by Jean-Francois Lanzarone
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

Who’s getting such a big send-off?

Published by Paula Bray on April 15, 2009 0 Comments

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This image, from an unidentified and undated glass negative, shows a funeral procession on Lyons Road, Drummoyne near the intersections of Formosa and College Streets. Lyons Road has been closed to traffic and crowds are gathered on the footpaths. The procession consists of five flower-laden open cars, followed by six enclosed cars. The Drummoyne [Grimm Memorial] Presbyterian Church is in the centre background. Business premises visible include S.R. Buttle, grocer, C.McHugh, boots and shoes, and Drummoyne Chambers.

The image is from the collection of commercial photographer Thomas Lennon (1908-1992), which is currently being catalogued by the Museum’s Archives. The negative was stored in a negative box inscribed ‘Ross Gordon / & Trixie / (17/6/34)’, but this inscription would appear to relate to photos of a ballroom dancing couple that were also in the box, not to this sombre occasion!

It has been suggested that the funeral may be that of Drummoyne resident and politician Sir Thomas Henley (after whom Henley Marine Drive is named) who died on 14 May 1935. Can anyone confirm this?

Photography by Thomas Lennon
No known copyright restrictions
Post by Helen Yoxall, Manager Archives

Yamba covered by sand

Published by Paula Bray on April 14, 2009 0 Comments

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As this image shows, by the 1920s Yamba was being covered by sand. Houses had been buried, others were removed, it seemed likely the town would be engulfed. The sand hills had moved 500 yards (457 metres) in ten years.
When William Ager (1881-1945) arrived in 1926 he observed the effects of the wind on the sand dunes and researched possible solutions. Ager created a series of wind breaks from hessian, fencing wire and Ti-tree brush to tunnel wind away from the dunes and initially planted Marram grass. It took six years to successfully revegetate the sand dunes and reduce the sand drift into Yamba.

This is one of the local stories gathered as the PHM exhibition Greening the Silver City: seeds of bush regeneration tours regional NSW.

Photography courtesy Yamba Museum, about 1920
Post by Anni Turnball, Assistant Curator

Cantilevered modernism

Published by Paula Bray on April 13, 2009 2 Comments

This great image was taken by one of the members from our modernism in Australia group on Flickr, Modern Times . This unusual art deco architecture has an Escher-like quality to it with the great, cantilevered roof structure hanging above what appears to be a foyer. If you know this building, post me a comment, I would love to know where it is.

Photography by mermaid99
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Follow the black line

Published by Paula Bray on April 12, 2009 0 Comments


Follow the black line, originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum.

This underwater shot was taken at Enfield pool in Sydney for the exhibition Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia. Jean-Francois spent the day at the pool getting underwater scenes to use in a photographic immersive that he produced for the exhibition that featured historic images of swimming pools and contemporary comparisons of the same pools. These included North Sydney, Centenary Pool in Brisbane, the pool that was home to the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and this pool in Enfield that still features the original tiles from the 30s.

Photography by Jean-Francois Lanzarone
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0

Then and now: stories from the Commons

Published by Paula Bray on April 11, 2009 0 Comments

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