Archive for the 'Photo of the day' Category

Mining history – Mount Boppy Gold Mine

Published by Lynne on February 9, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Gold has played a vital role in the development and prosperity of Australia ever since the famous goldrushes of the 1850s. This image shows a view of the Mount Boppy Gold Mine at Canbelego east of Cobar in northwest New South Wales. Mount Boppy was one of the most successful gold mining ventures in Australia in the early part of the twentieth century.

By the 1900s the time of the ‘digger’ striking it rich on the goldfields was long gone. Serious capital investment, heavy industrial equipment and well organised processing were required to access the riches held deeper in the earth. The Mount Boppy Gold-mining company was formed in London in 1900 with 110,000 one pound shares – a considerable capital investment for the time. Mining commenced in 1901 and by the end of 1911 shareholders had received a 350% return on their investment.

From 1901 to 1922 the Mount Boppy Mine produced 13.5 tonnes of gold from about one million tonnes of mined ore. In 1905 the mine employed 300 mine and supported the nearby town of Canbelego with a population of 1,500 people. It is estimated that the mine contributed 50,000 pounds per annum to the New South Wales economy.

The Museum holds a series of images of gold mining and processing at Mount Boppy dating from 1905.

Ref: Ken McQueen, ‘The Mount Boppy Gold Mine, NSW: A leader in its Day and More to Come’ Journal of Australasian Mining History, Vol 3 September 2005.

Faith Fashion Fusion

Published by Paula Bray on February 8, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Over the past year staff at the Museum have been developing content for the exhibition Faith, Fashion, Fusion: Muslim women’s style in Australia opening in May this year. From streetstyle to red carpet dresses, the exhibition will explore the emerging modest fashion market and the work of a new generation of Australian clothing brands offering stylish clothing for Muslim and non-Muslim women.

Through filmed interviews and photo shoots we have been capturing the stories and creative process behind some of these fashion labels. Our first photography session documented Hijab House’ fashion shoot for its mid summer 2010 campaign. Established in 2010 by Tarik Houchar Hijab House was the first Australian Muslim women’s fashion retailer to open inside a mainstream shopping centre and it was their striking marketing images that made the store stand out in the busy mall environment. Tarik commented that initially he would

see a lot of non-Muslim shoppers walk past and look up and seem amazed at that kind of product being offered in a suburban mall. It was challenging at first, but people are now very accepting of it. They love the concept and they love the accessibility of our brand.

Tarik conceived the ‘You’re late for Tea’ collection as pretty and playful and themed his shoot around the tea party in Alice in Wonderland noting the theme

is very culturally relevant because obviously Muslim women can’t drink things like alcohol, so tea and social engagements are very important for our culture.

This image shows models Edem Dokli, Anastasia Zhelobovskaya and Giarne Wedes posed as if about to take tea – all that is missing is the tea set. Tarik was inspired by the work of Swedish illustrator Lovisa Burfitt so in post production had the photographs overlaid with text and the accoutrements of a tea party. The final image appeared on Hijab House’ Facebook page and as a huge graphic in the window of Hijab House at Bankstown Centro, Sydney.

Post by Glynis Jones, Curator
Photography by Sotha Bourn
© All rights reserved

Bush butcher’s shop

Published by Kathy Hackett on February 7, 2012 0 Comments

This photograph bush butcher’s shop reveals just how basic the selling of meat could be in the late 1800s. Cattle and sheep were slaughtered out the back and whole carcasses hung out the front while the butcher kept his chopping block inside the one-room shop.

What’s in store: a history of retailing in Australia, Kimberley Webber and Ian Hoskins with Joy McCann, Powerhouse Publishing, 2003, p. 44

Henry King, (1855-1923) was a successful Sydney photographer best known for his view and portrait work. As his career progressed he incorporated landscape photography into his repertoire. He won several international medals, including a bronze at the Chicago exhibition of 1893. Many of King’s best known views of Sydney date from the 1880s and by 1890 his work was held in high regard throughout the colonies. The Powerhouse Museum Tyrrell collection includes 1,334 photographs by Henry King.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photograph by Henry King. Tyrrell Collection
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A Basket of Cats, Postcard 1910

Published by Geoff Barker on February 6, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Although many people have quoted the obsessive attention which cats have been given on the internet we shouldn’t imagine this is a new human trait. The intense postcard collecting craze of the early twentieth century saw a similar love of things cute, furry, and whiskery played out across the globe. This particular example was published by an Italian migrant G. Giovanardi who ran his postcard business from Elizabeth Street in Sydney in the early twentieth century.

This postcard is one of around 750 collected between 1905 and 1925 by two sisters, Amy and Lindy Hall. They lived in West Maitland in New South Wales and their cards represent some of the earliest picture postcards produced in Australia. This one was posted to Linda from the New South Wales coastal town of Forster on the 12 January 1910.

Geoff Barker, 2012
No known copyright restrictions

References
Sydney Morning Herald, 6 April 1908, p.11

Urban glamour

Published by Kathy Hackett on February 5, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Little is known about this simple but perfectly composed image from the Bruno Benini archive. Taken in a low light environment with fast film, only the bare minimum of detail is visible: the back of a woman’s head, her upswept hair, a pearl earring, hands, and a row of lights in the background. The image is a good example of Benini’s talent for the creation of atmosphere – in this case, an atmosphere of mystery.

At first it wasn’t clear whether the woman was dancing, adjusting her hair, or striking a pose, but the number ‘8’, handwritten at the bottom of the negative, was a clue. The photograph seems to be part of the same shoot as the section of the proof sheet below with frames numbered ‘3’ and ‘4’. From these images we can see partial details of a woman’s face as she adjusts her hair and applies makeup, suggesting that the environment may have been a backstage one such as a theatre or a fashion parade. Another person is just visible standing behind her in the shadows.

This image was displayed in the 2010 Powerhouse Museum exhibition, Creating the look: Benini and fashion photography, in a section titled, Urban glamour.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Bruno Benini
© Benini estate

Photography by Bruno Benini
© Benini estate

Trainspotting 2011

Published by Paula Bray on February 4, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

This is our Trainspotting 2011 photo competition exhibition that is currently on display at the Museum. We have 47 amazing photographs featured in this exhibition from our 2011 competition that we run on Flickr. This exhibition will only be on until the 13th February. Don’t forget that you can also enter your photos into our 2012 Trainspottting photo competition which is now open. All the details are on our website and you can also enter via our Flickr group.

Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski
© All rights reserved

Traditional Sanjo music

Published by Paula Bray on February 3, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

This is a detail of a Korean musician dressed in national costume playing an instrument and performing traditional Korean, Sanjo folk music that featured during the opening of our exhibition Spirit of jang-in: treasures of Korean metal work.This opening was celebrating the exhibition which traces the development of metal craft from ancient artisans to the spectacular ‘kingdoms of gold’ of the Silla royalty, the influence of Buddhism on craft skills and practice, the simple beauty of everyday objects, and the impact of the dark days of the early 20th century. Reflecting a contemporary spirit of jang-in, a selection of works from Korean artists living in Korea and Australia is also featured.

This exhibition closes on the 12th of February.

Photography by Sotha Bourn
© All rights reserved

Interlace

Published by Paula Bray on February 2, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

This is one of the digital artworks that is featured in our Love Lace exhibition. The work, created by Cecilia Heffer and Bert Bongers, consists of video projection: silkscreened, machine stitched silk organza on soluble substrates embedded with sensors, interacting with a digital interface projection of the Australian landscape.

This is their artist statement:

InterLace is an interactive video lace installation. The work sits between the definitions of a built environment and a multimedia environment. It is a response to the space and landscape of the travels by the artists separately and together within Australia.

Designed as a visual, spatial and tangible sensory experience, the work transforms lace in a three-dimensional augmented environment. Traditional expressions of lace pattern are redefined through the use of innovative materials, process and video technologies.

Sensors stitched into fragile delicate lace surfaces detect changes in light, and the proximity and movement of the audience. The work becomes an augmented fabric, with a multiplicity of layers of image and meaning; exploring the spatial mysterious interplay between real and virtual worlds. Its layers explore light and shadow between material and ephemeral perceptions of negative and positive space.

Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski
© All rights reserved

George Street

Published by Paula Bray on February 1, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

George Street near Hunter Street, Sydney

This image taken sometime between 1884-1917 comes from our Tyrrell glass plate negative collection. This full plate is titled ‘George Street near Hunter Street’ and was photographed by Kerry and Co. Our collection states:

This photographic negative is one of 2900 Kerry & Co. photographs in the Powerhouse Museum’s ‘Tyrrell Collection’ once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell. Almost all of these negatives are 21.5 x 20.3 cm (10 x 8 inch) glass plates and many of those now held by the Powerhouse Museum collection would have been used to create postcards. In addition to the Kerry & Co. Studio images, the Tyrrell Collection at the Powerhouse Museum includes glass plate negatives published by Henry King and a number of other negatives by unattributed photographers

Using the zoomify tool on our website you can read all the signs featured on the building facades. Here is a screenshot as an example.

Photography by Kerry and Co
No known copyright restrictions

Boy and Water Buffalo

Published by Iwona Hetherington on January 31, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

This is yet another image from the collection of hand coloured lantern slides donated to the Museum in 1978 by the Australia – China Society.

According to The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art by Hope B. Werness, scenes of young boys riding water buffalos, as depicted in the above image, have been very popular throughout Chinese art history. The juxtaposition of a young vulnerable child and a physically powerful animal were to symbolise docile nature of buffalos and ease with which they can be made obedient, even by a child. The water buffalo and ox also symbolise spring, the season in which farmers return to the fields with their buffalo drawn ploughs.

Photographer unknown
No known copyright restrictions