Craft Punk: To Dye For #2

Published by Kathy Hackett on May 4, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , .

This image shows the hectic yet creative energy at Craft Punk: To Dye For, a program where participants have the opportunity to try different craft skills in a workshop environment. Craft Punk runs 4 times a year, each time there is a different theme. During this particular program participants got totally absorbed in the making process. The class was screen printing with Donna Sgro. Keep an eye out for the next Craft Punk: Cover Your Bits on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May at the Powerhouse Museum.

Post by Deborah Vaughan
Producer, Contemporary Programs

Photography by Sotha Bourn
© All rights reserved

Ritual procession of Buddhist nuns

Published by Kathy Hackett on May 3, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

In my later years in Peking I often visited a small Buddhist nunnery in the West City to talk to the nuns and to watch them at their devotions. They were kind women, strangely innocent as to what was happening in the world outside but with a lively curiosity to learn. They used to give me tea and ply me with questions. They were concerned about my own situation and told me that if I ever had difficulties I should come to them for shelter and protection.

Hedda Morrison, A Photographer in Old Peking, 1985, Oxford University Press. p.56

The high angle view taken in this photograph makes for an interesting juxtaposition between a modernist sensibility and a subject steeped in ancient tradition.

Photographer Hedda Morrison, (1908-1991), was born Hedda Hammer in Stuttgart, Germany. She acquired her first camera, a Box Brownie, at the age of 11. In 1931, after completing studies at the State Institute for Photography in Munich and working in the studio of photographer Adolf Lazi (1884-1955), she answered an advertisement in a photography journal for a job in Peking.

In Peking Morrison managed Hartung’s photographic studio from 1933-1938. After her contract expired she continued to work freelance from a small darkroom in her home in Nanchang Street. The young photographer travelled around the city, usually by bicycle, often photographing its inhabitants. This photograph is part of the Hedda Morrison Photographic Collection

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Hedda Morrison
Powerhouse Museum Collection 92/1414-326
No known copyright restrictions.

Harbour glimpse

Published by Kathy Hackett on May 2, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Powerhouse Museum photographer, Jean-François Lanzarone, captured this unusual glimpse of Sydney Harbour looking towards Walsh Bay whilst working on location at North Sydney Olympic Pool .

The photographer was gathering images for the Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia exhibition and publication.

North Sydney Pool (1936), was one of a number of Olympic standard pools that were built across the country in the 1930s, inlcuding Manuka Pool in Canberra (1931), and Enfield (1933), Bankstown (1933), Granville (1936) in Sydney, designed by architects Rudder and Grout.

Despite the economic depression, public pools were built at a time when Australia’s reputation in international swimming events was growing. North Sydney Pool was to become one of the most iconic pools in Australia because of its spectacular location under the newly built Sydney Harbour Bridge and because of its use in the Empire Games of 1938 and 1958.

This photograph shows two significant design features of the North Sydney Pool; simple classical archways that frame the surrounding harbour views and polychromatic brickwork which creates a pleasing contrast with the expanse of blue water in the background.

Reference: Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia, Edited by Ann Stephen, Philip Goad and Andrew McNamara, Powerhouse Publishing, 2008, pp79-80.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Jean-François Lanzarone
© All rights reserved

The Modern Australian Shearer (and his dog)

Published by Lynne McNairn on May 1, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

This image was probably taken in the 1890s when the bicycle became a popular form of transport. The shearer appears beside his bicycle with a bit of a swagger, hand on hip, a working man and not to messed with. His dog on the other hand appears to appreciate the formally of the situation and is sitting nicely, head high and ears down.

Vast distances were travelled by shearers on bicycles. In 1910, one South Australian group pedalled 885 km to shear in south-west Queensland before returning home for the local season. The bicycle improved shearers’ social lives, enabling weekend visits to other sheds and nearby communities, and promoted participation in racing.The use of bicycles by shearers up to the 1920s was so integral to the shearing scene that the Shed Hands’ Agreement in New South Wales required, in addition to food, bunks and other amenities, that the employer provided a suitable room or place for bicycles.

This glass plate negative is one of 2900 Kerry & Co. photographs in the Powerhouse Museum’s ‘Tyrrell Collection’ once owned by Sydney bookseller, James Tyrrell.

Reference: On the move: a history of transport in Australia by Margaret Simpson, Powerhouse Publishing, 2004.

Post by Lynne McNairn

Photography by Kerry & Co. Tyrrell Collection.
No known copyright restrictions

International Jazz Day

Published by Iwona Hetherington on April 30, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

The 30th of April was proclaimed the “International Jazz Day” during the UNESCO General conference last year. The Day is a tribute to jazz as an art form symbolising freedom of expression, unity, peace, tolerance and equity.

This year celebrations, coordinated by the renowned American Jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, will begin with a sunrise concert in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, and conclude with a sunset concert at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York.

The initiative is to become an annual event with plenty of jazz related programs and performances in all UNESCO member nations.

Photography by Tom Lennon, Powerhouse Museum Collection
No known copyright restrictions

World Dance Day

Published by Kathy Hackett on April 29, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Today is World Dance Day and to celebrate here is a photograph from the Tom Lennon Archive.

This photograph shows dancers on the floor at the Jack Keating Dance Studio, which was located in the now heritage listed St. Georges Hall, in Newtown, Sydney, and is captioned, ‘Final Comp. 1933′. Another photograph from this same dancing competition has been posted previously on Photo of the Day.

At the time this photograph was taken, the Keating’s studio had only been running for a couple of years. Ballroom dancing was a popular social activity during the 1930s and 40s and many people met their life partners at local dances.

Keating’s studio became successful and Jack Keating went on to become one of the founders of the Society of Australian Teachers of Dancing (1945) and of the Australian Dancing Board (1964). In 1961 The Jacke Keating Studio was still going and Jack Keating was giving advice to aspiring dance studio owners in the Australian Women’s Weekly:

Start off with certain aims and feel that you are going to teach pupils what you feel they can learn. Keep in touch with other professionals and also give back to your profession by attending meetings, swapping ideas and keeping abreast of all that is new.

Tom T. Lennon was a commercial photographer whose studio was at 64 Victoria Road, Drummoyne. The 1796 negatives in the Powerhouse Museum Tom Lennon archive are largely of balls and dinners held in Sydney, but also include weddings, funerals, work events, parties, portraits, pets, fashion, horse races, and various places and events. Many images from the Tom Lennon archive have been posted previously on Photo of the Day.

World Dance Day is an initiative of the International Dance Council (CID), UNESCO and the theme of this year’s message is the therapeutic value of dance.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Tom Lennon
No known copyright restrictions

Panning for Gold

Published by Lynne McNairn on April 28, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .


This is another image from the Tyrell collection of glass plates negatives (note the crack in the glass). The image is captioned “Panning for Gold” but no other information is recorded so it not known where or exactly when this image was taken. The dry open scrub looks typical of the western slopes of New South Wales so it possible this image was taken in the Bathurst/Orange area.

The image is obviously posed to show the process of panning for gold. A range of men and equipment is shown. Starting on the right, a man is holding what appears to be a small gold washing cradle, next is a very upright young man holding the handle of a windlass. The windlass is a hand powered winch which was used to haul ore up a shaft. It could only be used in relatively shallow mines. Then two rather well dressed men are standing with a larger gold washing cradle. The mined earth was shoveled into the cradle and mixed with water. The cradle was rocked from side to side and the heavier gold trapped within riffles inside the cradle.  Next in line are three men standing with tubs, sieves shovels for processing the dirt. The scene is overlooked by a trooper and another man in a suit with his hands in his pockets. Also in the image, next to the shaft, is a metal boiler possibly used to hold the water used in processing.

This type of small mining operation was generally worked by a few men who had staked a claim and occurred in Eastern Australia primarily in the 1850s when alluvial gold was still relatively close to the surface and easy to find.

Photography by Kerry & Co
Tyrrell Collection
No known copyright restrictions

Craft Punk: To Dye For

Published by Kathy Hackett on April 27, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I love this image because it gives a sense of the atmosphere at a Craft Punk program. We try to create an interesting environment for people to create in. During this particular program, Craft Punk: To Dye For, we ran workshops where people could try using colour, dying and pigments to up-cycle their garments and textiles. This class was screen printing with Donna Sgro. We try to be mindful of the environment so the screen printing inks we used were 100% certified organic.

Keep an eye out for the next Craft Punk: Cover Your Bits on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May at the Powerhouse Museum.

Post by Deborah Vaughan
Producer, Contemporary Programs

Photography by Sotha Bourn
© All rights reserved

Society Gold

Published by Lynne McNairn on April 26, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

The Goldrushes of the 1850s and 1860s in Eastern Australia had a massive impact on the nation. The population trebled, the country was opened up with roads, bridges and towns and a growing middle class created a demand for decorative pieces and jewellery made from ‘pure Australian gold’. The influx of migrants who came to seek their fortune included skilled craftspeople who were able to provide these goods – perhaps after failing on the Goldfields themselves.

This studio portrait was taken in Australia in about 1865 and it shows a young woman displaying the trappings of her class. Museum records state that the sitter is Miss Margaret Miller although we have no other information about her. At her throat Miss Miller is touching a fine openwork gold brooch and on her lap rests a book positioned as though she has just looked up from reading. The portrait is designed to reveal Miss Miller as a wealthy and well educated young woman.

This photograph is a hand-tinted ambrotype (a photographic technique that creates a positive image on a sheet of glass) taken by an unknown photographer. The museum also holds a brooch similar to the one in this portrait made by Sylla Denis a French silversmith who migrated to Australia in 1853 and after a brief stint on the goldfields established Denis Bros a very successful jewellery business in Melbourne.

Reference: Brilliant: Australian Gold and Silver 1851-1950 edited by Eva Czernis-Ryl, Powerhouse Publishing, 2011

Postcard from Cairo, April, 1915

Published by Kathy Hackett on April 25, 2012 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

This photograph from the Boddington Family Collection shows Clot Bey Street, Cairo, in the early years of the 20th century. The image of a bustling city in the exotic east was posted from Egypt by a young soldier, Frederick Boddington, to his family in Mackay, Queensland. On the reverse side of the card, reproduced below, he wrote:

Have just rec’d large mail & papers from you [illegible] dated 6th Feb & as it is first for 5 weeks you can imagine it was very welcome. Have had no news from [illegible] although I have written to him a couple of times. F

His words are a poignant reminder of the sporadic nature of communication by post during wartime and the comfort that young soldiers derived from news and supplies from home.

The card is postmarked: ’3rd Aust. Inf. Bde. Field P.O.’, an abbreviation of the 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade Field Post Office, and dated April 3, 1915.

Just over three weeks later, on the 25th of April, Frederick and his brother George, as members of the Infantry Battalion, AIF – the famous 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade, would be among the first Australian soldiers ashore at what is now known as ANZAC Cove.

Frederick E Boddington and his brother George K Boddington both survived their Gallipoli experiences, but Frederick was wounded. In a letter to his parents, written from the Luna Park Pavilion Hospital in Cairo, he describes in vivid detail accidentally running into a Turkish trench at night.

Both brothers later died in France. Frederick E Boddington was killed in action on 11 April 1917 at the First Battle of Bullecourt, and George K Bodddington died on 12 May 1917 from wounds sustained on 10 May at the Second Battle of Bullecourt. A third brother, Charles, survived the war.

This item is one of an archive including the brothers’ medals, death plaques and photographs, as well as a ‘mourning medal’, letters, postcards and other items relating the gravity of loss for their family.

Other items from the Boddington Family Collection have been posted previously on Photo of the Day.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Au Carto Sport, Max H. Rudmann, Cairo
Powerhouse Museum Collection: 2000/9/26-32
No known copyright restrictions