Living in the Seventies

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

Living in the Seventies | from the collections of the National Library of Australia (NLA)

NLA Treasures Gallery | 14 August 2025 to 1 February 2026

1975 was a year to remember in Australia, especially so for those whose ages were such that they truly participated in everything that happened. Now the National Library of Australia (NLA) has reflected on what it was like to live in the seventies.

Dr Guy Hansen, the library’s Director of Exhibitions says Living in the Seventies explores whether there is more to 1975 than a dose of Baby Boomer nostalgia. “Looking at the collections held by the National Library of Australia reveals a much more complex story about a fascinating time in Australian history.” To consider the truth of that, I’ll focus on how exhibits in this great exhibition of posters, books, photos and more impacted on me (slightly older than the Baby Boomers).

The end of 1974 saw tropical Cyclone Tracy devastate Australia’s most northern city, Darwin. During a family get together, my brother-in-law received orders to prepare himself to go to Darwin the next day as part of the disaster relief contingent. That affected all our family, and most certainly had a major impact on him.

In 1975 music, art, fashion, literature and film transformed our view of the world. Significant films including Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Removalists proved we wanted to see Australian stories on the big screen. I certainly wanted to see more. Our favourite television show Countdown provided a soundtrack for suburban life with glam rockers Skyhooks. I watched the show regularly. And who didn’t love AC/DC and Aunty Jack?

Ego is not a dirty word_nla.cat-vn1843249

Attending the exhibition’s media preview provided an opportunity to chat with one of our favourite Australian TV personalities who entertained us through the seventies. No, it wasn’t Norman Gunston who was crowned “King of Canberra” in 1976. It was Denise Drysdale sharing some memories and reflections of the 70s – from TV to fashion, feminism and politics, and how 70s events still influence Australians today.

Norman Gunston and Denise Drysdale_nla.obj-148394048

The long-running Vietnam War which had a powerful impact on Australians finally ended. I wasn’t called up for Army service, but I knew a few people who were. The protest marches at that time recently very much came to mind again, with recent major marches relating to the current Gaza situation drawing comparisons.

Australia’s Federal government led by Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam implemented major social reforms including no-fault divorce but also found itself mired in a series of political controversies. The women’s liberation movement challenged many long-held assumptions about the roles of women. Funded projects for 1975’s International Women’s Year included another feature film, Caddie, a study of the working conditions of migrant women, and the establishment of various women’s centres and refuges. My wife was one of many women who had to resign as a public servant following our marriage in 1965. I knew activist and academic Elizabeth Reid before she was appointed, in a world first, as Women’s Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Women on the march_nla.obj-137045864

1975 ended dramatically. Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the government on 11 November. I was then working for the Australian Public Service Board in offices quite close to the then Parliament House. After hearing rumours, I joined others running to see what was happening. We made it in time to hear Whitlam make his famous speech on the steps of the House.

Newspaper vendor_nla.obj-152388014

Flared jeans, platform shoes and burnt orange dominated 70s’ fashion. I wore them all. They were all gloriously rendered on brand-new colour television sets. And, yes, I owned one.

Colour TV What to look for_nla.cat-vn1285282

This exhibition has most effectively brought together a range of objects exploring politics, conflicts and disasters, as well as popular culture, food, fashion and sport, in a colourful celebration of iconic seventies design. Have you still got your copy of Margaret Fulton’s Cookbook?

Margaret Fulton Crockpot Cookbook_nla.cat-vn2834240

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

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.

Sydney Morning Herald photographer George Bell, New South Wales, 1910,
nla.obj-163385448, courtesy National Library of Australia

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.

Mrs G. Gordon and Miss E. Patterson at the Gerringong motor races, New South Wales, 1930,
nla.obj-157983357, courtesy National Library of Australia

Jean Thompson sits in her Type 37A Bugatti between races, 1930,
nla.obj-157983478, courtesy National Library of Australia

Six of Inge Stange’s pupils in performance, New South Wales, year,
nla.obj-162055145, courtesy National Library of Australia

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.

And has been published at pages 10-15 of The Printer here.

William Yang's Mardi Gras

Exhibition Review: Photography | Brian Rope

William Yang's Mardi Gras | William Yang

National Library of Australia (NLA) Treasures Gallery | 6 December 2023 – 1 December 2024

One of my prized possessions is a copy of Yang's book China, inscribed simply by his own hand “To Brian, Best Wishes, William Yang, Port Macquarie, 2011”. I had just heard and seen one of his presentations during the Australian Photographic Society’s annual convention in that coastal centre.

Yang is a well-known and renowned Australian performer, filmmaker, artist, and photographer. He began his career shooting fashion, but soon shifted to social documentary. Gay liberation, illegal Sydney warehouse parties, and AIDS-related deaths were all documented by this photographer.

Born in Mareeba, North Queensland, in 1943, Yang was raised in the little village of Dimbulah in the Atherton Tablelands. He got his first camera when he was seventeen but didn't start taking photography seriously until he was a university student. He relocated to Sydney in 1969 with the intention of becoming a playwright, but instead found employment as a freelance photographer covering social events. When his 1977 solo exhibition Sydneyphiles opened at the Australian Centre for Photography, his images received critical acclaim.

That exhibition gave viewers an almost voyeuristic glimpse into the social circles and private lives of people who were rarely seen by the general public, including socialites, fashion designers, actors, directors, artists, and Sydney's gay community. The community at that time was controversial as homosexual behaviour was prohibited. In Australia, pictures of gay life, love, and sex had never been shown so widely. Those who were gay and had their photos taken by the artist ran the risk of losing their jobs or facing rejection from their families.

In 1978, a newly formed Gay Solidarity Group held a protest demonstration followed by a parade celebrating queer pride: the Mardi Gras. Due to illness, Yang missed the first three annual parades whilst convalescing in Queensland. Returning to Sydney in time for the 1981 parade, Yang became a pre-eminent chronicler of Mardi Gras.

More than 250 of Yang’s photographs are held by the NLA. Among them are series relating to artists, writers, actors, celebrities, friends, Chinese Australians, intimate dinners, boisterous parties, and the Mardi Gras. This NLA Collections-in-Focus exhibition, William Yang’s Mardi Gras, displays material from over 20 years of photography documenting the parades. Originally opened late in 2023, the exhibition had to close whilst the venue was being renovated but has now resumed.

The 24 images displayed (all with Yang's trademark handwritten descriptions on them) explore four themes: Protest, Community, Art and Remembrance. What began as a protest event celebrating queer life, also became a community event; an artistic event; an event to remember people of the community lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

An image of a fairy makes a statement about the courage of revealing oneself as a gay/queer at that time.

Fairy, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, 1982. William Yang (National Library of Australia-nla.obj-136859502)

An image of two people lighting a candle effectively and sensitively remembers those who died from AIDS.

“The Last Candle.” AIDS Vigil 1994. 2/10. William Yang (National Library of Australia-nla.obj-136864462)

Morals crusader, Fred Nile, was made fun of in the 1989 parade when a Papier Mâché version of his head on a platter made an appearance. Yang was there to get an image.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Head of Fred Nile
1989 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. William Yang
(National Library of Australia-nla.obj-136862227)

Yang was also there in 2009 to capture a simple, but effective, image of a protestor urging people to fight AIDS rather than Iraq where Australia had been involved in armed conflict from 2003.

“Protest.” NSW Mardi Gras. 2009 1/10. William Yang (National Library of Australia-nla.obj-136861261)

After years of documenting the parades, Yang wrote in his monologue Friends of Dorothy I’ve finally figured out what Mardi Gras is. It’s the re-enactment of a ritual. A ritual we have worked out over the years as defining and celebrating a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex culture.

In a review of Yang’s Sydneyphiles Reimagined, at the State Library of New South Wales, Edward Scheer wrote Yang’s photographs …… offer the complete opposite of the selfie. ….. he offers carefully framed and curated portraits. ……. He brings the pictures back into the present moment.

This exhibition reminds us of the importance of Collections held by the NLA and other institutions. The opportunities to see exhibitions of selections from such Collections should be taken by us all if we possibly can do so.

This review is also available on the author's blog here.

Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now

 Photography | Brian Rope

Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now | Various artists

National Library of Australia Exhibition Gallery | 16 Sep 2022-13 Mar 2023

Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now explores fifty years in the life of Australia. 125 images from the National Library of Australia's collections reveal a changing Australia and the evolving nature of photography. It looks at powerful Australian documentary photography, from 1970s black and white images to recent vibrant high-definition images.

Quintessential Aussies feature, including shearers, dancers, infantry diggers, knitters, sporting heroes and bronzed bodies on the beach. However, there is a much bigger, far more inclusive story, including William Yang’s winged angels at Mardi Gras in 2003, migrant lives, Australian First Nations people, and the joys of family life.

 

William Yang, Rainbow Angel Wings, New Mardi Gras, 2003,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136950531, courtesy William Yang

 

A 1973 Jon Rhodes image of a ticket booth employee at a railway station would have meaning and memories for his family and all who remember those booths. Others, too young to remember, should also be interested in this snippet of history.

 

Jon Rhodes, Paul Jackson, Dubbo, News South Wales, 1973,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2147881601, courtesy Jon Rhodes

 

There’s a cyclist towing an older woman in a wheeled cart, itself towing a caged dog. Bruce Howard’s delightful 1985 image shows that such modes of transport are not new.

 

Bruce Howard and Herald and Weekly Times, On a bicycle built for ?, 1981,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148147368, courtesy Bruce Howard

 

Bill Bachman’s image of three Aussie blokes having a beer in 1995 is simply classic.

 

Bill Bachman, Council mechanics, Jack Western, Bob Mackenzie and Bryan Steele
having a drink of beer, Gascoyne Junction, Western Australia, ca. 1995,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138088597, courtesy Bill Bachman

 

Anne Zahalka’s colourful 1998 image of Star City Casino is of particular interest right now because it, and other casinos, have been in the news.

 

Anne Zahalka, Star City Casino (after Breughel), 1998,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150880157, courtesy Anne Zahalka

Matthew Sleeth shows us senior citizens on the footpath to see their much-loved Queen pass by in 2000.

 

Matthew Sleeth, Residents of a Retirement Home are Wheeled onto the Footpath to Watch the Queen, Western Freeway, Friday 24 March 2000,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145875044, copyright courtesy Matthew Sleeth and Josef Lebovic Gallery, Sydney

 

And, from 2007, Martin Mischkulnig shows us a very dusty Pilbara Aussie rules venue.

 

Martin Mischkulnig, Warralong, Western Australia, 2007,
nla.gov.au/nla.obj-691608047, courtesy Martin Mischkulnig

 

These are just examples of works from this wonderful collection which is never fully on view at any one time.

 

The exhibition also focusses on the evolving nature of photography as a way of recording our lives and highlights the significant technological advances and increasing diversity of styles, approaches and techniques utilised by photographers over the past five decades.

 

Walking through and taking time to look, study and absorb each work and the accompanying information, I was struck by a message for children under a self-portrait of Tracey Moffatt. It included this definition “A portrait is a painting, drawing or a photograph of a person”. Just 700m away at the National Portrait Gallery, another current exhibition is boldly proclaiming about the show being designed to make visitors think about “the ever-evolving and ever-expanding idea of portraiture”.

 

Does that mean the NLA is out of touch? No, because the images it is showing from its collection are primarily from the past, whereas the diverse artworks on display at the other institution are from collections that have a different focus. Any and all collections in national institutions have an important place and opportunities to view pieces from those collections are most welcome and, indeed, important. Being able to view both exhibitions at the same time is an especially valuable opportunity for us all.

 

So, back to the NLA exhibition. What does it tell us about Australia? The diverse works include well-known pieces that anyone with a modest knowledge of Australian photography will recognise. There are images most of us will not be familiar with, by photographers whose names we may not recollect having heard. Pleasingly, the indigenous country location is identified for each image.

 

The NLA describes its image collections as the photo albums of Australia. They certainly are an invaluable archive that can assist us to understand the story of this country. They reveal the communities we live in, the landscapes we inhabit, our history and moments both significant and ephemeral.

Documentary photographers – including you - capture images that assist us understand both place and people, and to plot our way forward in this uncertain world.

This review was first published online by The Canberra Times here. It is also available on the author's own blog here.