EXHIBITION: HAROLD CAZNEAUX: ARTIST IN PHOTOGRAPHY
BY AMELIA GROOM
Harold Cazneaux (1878 ‘ 1953) believed passionately in photography as art and was unfaltering in his desire to contribute to the discussion about the growing medium. As an artist in photography, he was a pioneer who created some of the most memorable images of the early twentieth century, and whose style has had an enduring impact on the development of photographic history in Australia.
In Harold Cazneaux: Artist in Photography we can see the transition in his style from a moody and darkly rendered vision of narrative allusion to a more naturalistic print of sunlights effects. The use of natural light was a defining characteristic of his later, best-known work, and in 1916 he and others formed the Sydney Camera Circle. Known as the ‘Sunshine School’ of photography, the Circle embraced the particularities of Australian light and landscape, and moved away from the darker English-inspired imagery dominating photography at that time.
Cazneaux was official photographer for Sydney Ure Smith’s lifestyle magazine The Home from 1920 to 1941, and was commissioned to produce images for a number of Ure-Smith’s publications including Sydney Surfing, The Bridge Book, The Sydney Book and The Australian Native Bear Book. Beyond his photographic oeuvre, he was also a prolific writer, and as a correspondent for Photograms of the Year (UK) for more than two decades, he was a major international voice of Australian photography.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales has one of the most comprehensive collections of Cazneaux’s photographs, and was the first Australian museum to hold a major retrospective of his work (in 1975). Bringing together over 100 of his iconic images, this exhibition is devised around key themes such as landscape, portraits, artists’ portraits, the harbour and the city. Arranged chronologically, they chart the visual and conceptual development of Australia’s greatest Pictorialist photographer.
Until August 10
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery Road, The Domain
10am until 5pm, 7 days a week, Art After Hours – every Wednesday until 9pm
Free
Contact: 9225 1744 or 1800 679 278 or www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au
