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Photography

19th century

Shakespeare - his birthplace, home and grave

In 1864 the Reverend John M. Jephson published his book on the birthplace, home, and grave of Shakespeare. Nestled within the pages of text are a series of photographs of sites relating to Shakespeare’s life in Stratford-on-Avon.

Henry Beaufoy Merlin: Australian showman and photographer

In 1951 one of Australia’s most significant collections of nineteenth-century photographs was found in a garden shed in Chatswood, Sydney.

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20th century

Frank Hurley's WWI photography

Hurley's photographs of the western front in 1917 and the Middle East in 1918 are arresting and iconic.

Shooting the war: Australia's first Oscar

'There'll be so much to be done when this is all finished…So many big subjects to be covered where the right kind of film will be useful.' Damien Parer (1943)

Photography - Sydney exposed

Photography - 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.

The Redfern All Blacks in 1946

We've recently digitised a remarkable series of  photos showing players from the Redfern All Blacks rugby league team taken at Redfern Oval in 1946.

Dupain's images of Penrith, 1948

The newly acquired the Max Dupain Exhibition Negative Archive with more than 25,000 negatives focuses on the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Slide show

The quirky and obscure Hallams slide collection is a curator’s dream, revealing ordinary Australian gardens in the 1960s and 70s.

Boy oh boy!

In 25 years at the State Library, our Curator of Photographs has seen four people cry.

Australasian Photo Review

 The longevity of the Australasian Photo-Review marks it as the most significant in terms of insights into the development of photography in Australia 1894 through to the last issue which appeared in December 1956. It is now available online.

Antarctica: Frank Hurley

As the official photographer on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, Frank Hurley provided a remarkable record of the dangers and heroism of Antarctic exploration in the early twentieth century.

Reviving "The Pictorial Panorama of the Great War"

Hand-coloured photographs by ‘digger artists’ are displayed together for the first time in almost 100 years.

Fred Harris Tattoo Studio

Sometime around 1916, Fred Harris opened a small tattoo shop in Sussex Street, Sydney.

Underground albums

The optimism of a city imagining its future is captured in photographs, plans and sketches.

21st century