Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers
NLA Exhibition Gallery I 27 February - 20 July 2025
The National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra holds more than 18,000 photographs in the Fairfax Archive of glass-plate negatives . Published in newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun and The Sydney Mail between 1890 and 1948, these images trace the art of photojournalism from its infancy.
The NLA invited renowned Australian photojournalist Mike Bowers to select some of his favourite images from the Archive. Using high quality prints made from the original glass-plate negatives, this exhibition explores how the pioneers of press photography in Australia developed their storytelling skills while also creating a lasting record of its society in the opening decades of the twentieth century.
In his curator’s essay, Bowers has written At its very best photojournalism can define a moment, a movement, an era, or even a whole generation. It can bring down a careless politician or elevate them to a winning position. It can lift a weary spirit. And sometimes it can move opinions and change the way we view the world.
Whether they have worked as a photojournalist or have just photographed a particular local event as an interested amateur, each person who has recorded a real life moment with a camera has captured a part of history. Having this opportunity to see around 150 of the Archive’s 18,000 historical moments in print is most special. For those unable to visit the gallery, there is a companion publication that can be purchased online here. It is also possible to explore the Archive online anytime.
Many of the images displayed are more than 100 years old examples of the birth of photojournalism. Five years before the invention of the daguerreotype, The Sydney Herald in April 1834, published a filled-in line drawing - starting the reign of wood-block engravers in Australian newspaper illustration. The halftone reproduction process was not introduced until 1888. Then, in 1892, The Sydney Mail published photographs of the finish of two horse races, highlighting how the need to capture sport’s excitement was driving photographic innovation and technology.
The first Fairfax photographer was George Bell. His 1920 image of shearers at work is in the exhibition and the companion publication. Bell travelled around Australia on horseback with tripods and heavy wooden cameras that used glass plates coated with emulsions.
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| Sydney Morning Herald photographer George Bell, New South Wales, 1910, nla.obj-163385448, courtesy National Library of Australia |
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| George Bell, Shearers at work on Boonoke Station, c. 1920, nla.obj-162963514, courtesy National Library of Australia |
Bowers’ essay shares much more about the history of photojournalism, and cameras and film, and about how aviation, war, sports and much more pushed the boundaries of photography.
It wasn’t until emulsions and shutters improved to allow for the ‘freezing’ of faster moving objects that photojournalists were able to begin creating the more familiar form of images that are commonplace now.
Here are just a few of the other wonderful images on display and included in the companion publication.
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| Mrs G. Gordon and Miss E. Patterson at the Gerringong motor races, New South Wales, 1930, nla.obj-157983357, courtesy National Library of Australia |
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| Jean Thompson sits in her Type 37A Bugatti between races, 1930, nla.obj-157983478, courtesy National Library of Australia |
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| Six of Inge Stange’s pupils in performance, New South Wales, year, nla.obj-162055145, courtesy National Library of Australia |
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| Young girl holding an exceptionally large apple, c. 1930, nla.obj-163350126, courtesy National Library of Australia |
We see stories, enjoy events in the landscape, dancers, famous people, unidentified children, colliery workers, a scout campfire, sports events and attendees, indigenous leaders, bridges, beaches, ballerinas and choirs. Depending on how many years we have been living in Australia, we might recall having seen some of the images before, whilst there are others we have never previously seen. This is Australian life as it was in the years from 1890 to 1948.
There are so many more interesting images of people in the exhibition such as one of a man examining a cello, one of Ginger Meggs’ creator at work and another of a woman beside Meroo Creek at Hardy’s Station, Yass.
The exhibition and essay point to significant times in history – such as the building and then opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Great Depression, how Australia “rode” on the sheep’s back, and the first transmissions of news photos by telegraph. The exhibition, essay and the companion publication now all have taken a significant and important place in Australian history. Bowers and the NLA curators who were involved with this project are to be commended on the very fine outcome.
This review is also available on the author's personal blog here.