Photography
Photographs represent tangible and direct links with the past. Each image is an intriguing record of technological, social and artistic change.
The State Library was one of the first institutions to collect photographs as documentary records. The collection, of over 1 million images, ranges from historical subjects, including the earliest known photograph taken in Australia (an 1845 daguerreotype of Dr William Bland), to more recent documentary photographs made in the last few months.
Take a look at our first online photography collection - Sydney Exposed.
Dr William Bland, ca. 1845, by George Baron Goodman
Daguerreotype
Dr William Bland, an ex-convict, was a prominent surgeon, humanitarian, social reformer and inventor.
Sydney Exposed
Sydney Exposed takes the first step in providing an online gateway to thousands of images highlighting the history and changing nature of Sydney, Australia's first and largest metropolis.
