Author Archive for imageservices

Large cannon on circular track aimed at Harbour, originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum Collection.

This image titled ‘Large cannon on circular track aimed at Harbour’ from the Phillips photographic collection has sparked some interesting conversations between members of the Commons project on Flickr. The Phillips collection was acquired in the 1980s without documentation and little information about the photographer, however we believe that Arthur Phillips may in fact be the photographer. One of our Flickr contacts has done some interesting research linking images from the collection to paintings by Tom Roberts including this one. This member (beachcomberaustralia) has also identified the location as Middle Head, whilst another member (lifeasdaddy) has identified the mound on the right hand side of the cannon to be an earthen berm. These were apparently built after the cannons were installed to prevent adjacent cannon to fire upon another. This image from the National Library of Australia’s collection clearly shows a berm in this image title ‘Battery on Middle Head, New South Wales’by Charles Bayliss, c.1850-1897.

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QVB2, originally uploaded by sarahrhodes.

Today’s post is courtesy of the photographer, Sarah Rhodes, who shares her story about taking contemporary comparison shots to match the images from our Tyrrell photographic collection for our group on Flickr Tyrrell Today.

“Armed with several prints from the Tyrrell Collection, I set out to find out exactly how much Sydney’s business district has changed in 100 years. It was strange to find that many of the magnificent examples of architecture I was looking at in my bundle of photographs had been demolished during the 1960s. Forty years ago does not seem to be very long ago to be making, what I believe to be, devastating decisions. The State Premier Wing of the State Office Block replaced the Free Public Library in 1967, and then in 2004 Renzo Piano’s Aurora Place was built on the site. The Australian Club continues to operate from 165 Macquarie St but is no longer the stately building it was. The Australia Hotel on Castlereagh St, known as a wartime landmark and ‘the hotel of the Commonwealth’, was demolished in 1971 and replaced by a 35-storey office block built by its namesake MLC Insurance and Finance group. I tried to imagine why local governments would have agreed to knock down architecture now so highly valued.

After a little research I discovered it was not until the Bicentenary in 1988 that Australians became aware of their national heritage. Since then, restoration and renovation has become very fashionable. The trend has consumed homeowners and fuelled an entertainment industry, by making television shows like Channel 9’s Renovation Rescue.

My Tyrrell ‘Then and Now’ expedition started by visiting the Queen Victoria Building. As you can see in this picture it has seen few changes since it was completed in 1898. At the time it was built, the economy was in deep recession and so the government used the project of building a fresh produce market to employ a large number of workmen. The building was drastically remodeled in the 1930s and faced demolition in the 1950s. Thankfully, it was saved by a Malaysian company, which restored it to its former glory.

This experience has left me looking at every building and analysing its historical value. It has made me ask how we are assessing which buildings have heritage value and which are replaceable. I look around my suburb at gorgeous 1940s and 1950s bungalows being converted into modern townhouses and apartments where rendering and huge panels of glass dominate. Will we look back at those lost homes with regret or will we be happy to have adapted to our climate, creating light and airy suntraps?

I recommend anyone who is interested in architecture or our colonial history to take a walk through Sydney’s CBD with a few print outs that have been geo-tagged from the Powerhouse Museum’s Tyrrell Collection. You may even be pleasantly surprised to find many of the original buildings still standing proudly.”

References: Demolished Houses of New South Wales, an exhibition curated by James Broadbent and Joy Hughes, mounted at Elizabeth Bay House in 1988.

Photography by Sarah Rhodes
© All rights reserved.

Three men playing cards in an alcove, originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum Collection.

This image was posted to the Commons project on Flickr this week in a new batch of 10 from the Phillips photographic collection. Zooming in on the detail reveals the label on the bottle of beer on the table that reads ‘Robert Porter and Co’ with a distinct graphic of a bulldog. The beer bottle on the ground however reads ‘Opp Beir’ which we have also seen scratched into the emulsion on the bottle that appears in this image . One of the members on Flickr has noticed the 4 of clubs card tucked under the leg of the man on the right and poses the question ‘was he cheating?’

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Keep Left, originally uploaded by autumn_leaf.

This great black and white image was taken by one of the contributors to our Modern Times group on Flickr. According to the tags added to this image it was taken at the Mount Henry Bridge in Perth, Western Australia. This bridge carries the Kwinana Freeway over the Canning River. This shot was taken on the lower, cantilevered shared pedestrian/cycle way that hangs under the freeway. You get more perspective of this cycle way through this image, Family of Cyclists also taken by this photographer.

Photography by autumn leaf
License: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic

Lover’s Walk, Botanical Gardens, Sydney, originally uploaded by Powerhouse Museum Collection.

This image titled ‘Lover’s Walk, Botanical Gardens, Sydney’ comes from our Tyrrell photographic collection posted today for Valentine’s Day. Not sure if this part of the Botanic gardens is still referred to as Lover’s Walk or where this area was originally located. This set on Flickr shows the other photos from the Tyrrell collection taken at the Botanic Gardens but only this image has that title. Do you recognise this part of the Botanic Gardens?

Searching for information about this walk has led to the discovery of other pictures with ‘Lover’s walk’ in the title including, Lover’s Walk, Hyde Park, Sydney from the National Library of Australia’s collection, Bundanoon views: view from the Lovers Walk from the State Library of NSW’s collection and View from Lovers Walk Lookout near Bundanoon (NSW) from State Records NSW’s collection. In fact there are many historic images featuring the title Lover’s walk seen on this Picture Australia search.

Photography by Kerry and Co
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