mga.org.au
LEGACY. Your collection. Our story.
MGA: the Australian home of photography
Historical
Central Gallery
Historical
MGA's collection traces the history of photography in Australia, with the earliest work in the collection dating from the 1860s. The selection on exhibition vary in date, but all reflect and respond to early techniques, mediums and subject matter by some of the most important (and some quite prolific) photographers of the times. These works provide an important document of life in Australia and the impact of European settlement, with many of these works focusing on the impact of the world wars in the early to mid-twentieth century. These works effortlessly flow from depictions of pastoral labourers and European settlement, early portraiture and carte-de-visite, documentation of the world wars through to pictorial views of the Australian bush.
Julian SMITH
Julian Smith (1873–1947) completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide in 1892 and went on to study medicine at the University of Adelaide and the University of Melbourne before establishing himself as a distinguished Melbourne surgeon. Smith took up photography in about 1925 as a hobby and began exhibiting his prints locally and overseas. He became a founding member of the Victorian Salon, a member of the Melbourne Camera Club, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He was also one of Australia’s most prominent pictorialist photographers and became famous for his portrait character studies.
Martinet c. 1930
gelatin silver print
41.5 x 33.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated anonymously 1992
MGA 1992.37
Jack CATO
Jack Cato (1889–1971) was born in Tasmania and was introduced to photography by his cousin, renowned photographer John Watt Beattie. Cato trained and worked as a photographer in Launceston from 1901 to 1906 before establishing his own business in Hobart. He travelled to Europe in 1908 and worked in London as a theatre and society photographer from 1909 to 1914. He then spent six years photographing in South Africa. Cato received a fellowship at the Royal Photographic Society in 1917. He returned to Tasmania in 1920 and re-opened his portrait studio in Hobart. He moved his studio to Melbourne in 1927 and became known as a leader in Australian photography. Cato is particularly known for his pictorial portraits.
Untitled c. 1930
gelatin silver print
29.5 x 23.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by John Cato (Jnr.) through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2002
MGA 2002.35
Margaret MICHAELIS
Margaret Michaelis (1902–1985) was born in Dzieditz, Austria (now Poland), and studied at the Graphik Institut in Vienna before working at two prominent studios, which both specialised in portraiture. She moved to Berlin in 1929 and then Spain, where she undertook documentary and architectural photography. She escaped Spain in 1938 and arrived in Australia in 1939, where she spent the rest of her life. In 1940, Michaelis opened Photo-Studio in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, which over time became a significant studio in post-war Sydney. In 1952, she closed her studio and moved to Melbourne, where she married Albert Sachs and essentially stopped taking photographs.
Margaret Chapple, Bodenwieser Ballet c. 1950
gelatin silver print
24.2 x 25.2 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Barbara Cuckson in memory of Marie Cuckson 2014
MGA 2014.022
David TATNALL
Forest, Crows Foot Track, Rodger River, East Gippsland, Victoria 1986
gelatin silver print
29.5 x 39.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by the artist 1995
MGA 1995.05
courtesy of the artist
Cryril JACKSON
Lakeside launching c. 1940s
gelatin silver print
28.9 x 37.3 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Gael Newton 2017
MGA 2017.47
Harold CAZNEAUX
Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953) was a key figure of the pictorialist movement in Australia. His career began in photographic studios, first in Adelaide, then Sydney. In Sydney, Cazneaux exhibited in local photographic competitions and held his first solo exhibition in 1909. His photographs, which were mostly portraits, city views and landscapes, show his interest in natural light and reflect his belief that photography should be used as a form of artistic expression. He was a founding member of the Sydney Camera Circle and through his photography, writing and teaching made a significant contribution to Australian photography in the early twentieth century.
Ribbon Gum, Mount Buffalo, Victoria c.1935
gelatin silver print
19.8 x 25.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Gael Newton in honour of Noel Denton 2013
MGA 2013.032
John EATON
John Eaton (1881–1966) is the most prolific Pictorialist photographer to be based in Melbourne during the early twentieth century. He worked in his father’s picture framing business from a young age and expanded the family business to include fine art prints as his amateur interest in photography developed. He began exhibiting his work in 1917 and was frequently commended for his contributions to international photography exhibitions throughout his life. Eaton is most well-known for his ‘portraits’ of gum trees and his appreciation of the bucolic Victorian countryside.
Unidentified [woman picking flowers] c. 1930
gelatin silver print
20.1 x 23.0 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated anonymously 2012
MGA 2012.070
John EATON
Beach landscape 1922
gelatin silver print
31.3 x 23.3 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2012
MGA 2012.058
John EATON
Sheep in clearing c. 1920s
gelatin silver print
15.6 x 23.8 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Janice Hinderaker through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program 2003
MGA 2003.04
George J MORRIS
George J Morris (1884–1959) became interested in photography through his work in the engraving business. After a trip to Europe and the United States in 1920, Morris became a part of the Sydney pictorialist community. He began exhibiting in about 1925 as a member of the Sydney Camera Circle and the Photographic Society of New South Wales. Around this time, Morris established a commercial studio in Sydney specialising in advertising and industrial photography. In 1927, he became a partner in Ramsay Photo Works, which led him on another trip to Europe and America in 1936. Morris later exhibited photographs from this trip, printing them as remarkably large bromoil transfers.
Nürnberg, Germany 1936
gelatin silver print
30.2 x 20.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Richard King in memory of Murray Stewart Smith 2008
MGA 2008.328
George J MORRIS
Awaiting the tide, Polperro 1936
gelatin silver print
20.5 x 30.2 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Richard King in memory of Murray Stewart Smith 2008
MGA 2008.330
Noel JONES
The Rialto, 497 Collins Street c. 1970
gelatin silver print
38.0 x 28.0 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by the artist 2004
MGA 2004.78
courtesy of the artist's estate
Margaret MICHAELIS
Margaret Michaelis (1902–1985) was born in Dzieditz, Austria (now Poland), and studied at the Graphik Institut in Vienna before working at two prominent studios, which both specialised in portraiture. She moved to Berlin in 1929 and then Spain, where she undertook documentary and architectural photography. She escaped Spain in 1938 and arrived in Australia in 1939, where she spent the rest of her life. In 1940, Michaelis opened Photo-Studio in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, which over time became a significant studio in post-war Sydney. In 1952, she closed her studio and moved to Melbourne, where she married Albert Sachs and essentially stopped taking photographs.
Untitled 1940–52
gelatin silver print
25.3 x 18.8 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Paula Boltman 2017
MGA 2017.27
Peter LYSSIOTIS
Peter Lyssiotis (1949– ) was born in Cyprus and has been based in Australia since 1953. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 at La Trobe University and a Diploma in Education at Rusden College in 1973. He is a teacher, writer, filmmaker and visual artist who has been exhibiting his works since the early 1980s. He works with photography, particularly focussing on found photographs, photomontage and photo books. His early works used photomontage to explore political and social issues while his more recent photographs explore the relationship between photography and memory.
If life is something then it must be in something 1979
from the series Industrial woman
gelatin silver print
16.8 x 11.8 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by David Rosenthal 2016
MGA 2017.01
courtesy of the artist
Ruth HOLLICK
Ruth Hollick (1883–1977) studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne from 1902 to 1906 before establishing herself as a photographer. In about 1908 she set up a touring freelance photography business with her partner Dorothy Izard. During World War I she worked from her family home in Moonee Ponds before opening a studio on Collins Street in 1918. In the 1920s, Hollick was one of Melbourne’s leading photographers. She worked for magazines and private clients, gaining a reputation for her fashion and society photographs and particularly her portraits of children. She exhibited her work in important local and international exhibitions, including the London Salon of Photography in 1920 and the Melbourne Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in 1929. She moved her studio back home in the 1930s and retired at age 75.
Miss Beggs c. 1920–30
gelatin silver print
20.0 x 14.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by Gael Newton 2017
MGA 2017.45
Ezra GOULTER
Ezra Goulter was born in England and arrived in Australia with his new wife Sarah in 1860. He had previously visited Australia in 1849. Goulter was a professional photographer who worked in various studios around Melbourne. From 1863–71 he worked in Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne), then he had a brief period at 57 Collins Street East from 1866–67 and from 1876–93 he was based on Chapel Street in Prahran. He focused on portraiture and produced cartes-de-visite in black and white as well as hand coloured. He exhibited his portraits at the 1866 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition where he received an honourable mention for his work.
Untitled (Portrait of Kathleen Mary Goulter, four years) c. 1877
gelatin silver print
13.5 x 9.5 cm
Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection
donated by the descendants of Mrs L W Wates
MGA 2016.19
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