John
Cyril Cato was
born in
Launceston and
was inspired
by the career
of his cousin,
John Watt
Beattie, a
renowned
topographical
photographer.
Cato joined
Beattie’s
studio in 1909
and was
responsible
for adding a
quality
portrait
service to the
studio.
Cato
had already
studied art
under Lucien
Dechaineux and
portrait
photography
under Percy
Whitelaw and
John Andrew.
Pictorialism
had begun to
create a taste
for more
imaginative
portraiture
than the
clichéd 19th
century studio
study
inevitably set
against fake
balustrades.
Cato went on
to contribute
some of the
best portrait
work in the
pictorial era.
From
1909–13 Cato
worked in
London,
firstly for
fellow
Australian H.
Walter
Barnett, who
ran the
leading
society
portrait
studio, and
then with
Claude Harris
who
specialised in
theatrical
personalities.
Cato worked
next as a
freelance
photographer
in the
theatrical
world, aided
by patronage
from Nellie
Melba.
In
1913 Cato
moved to South
Africa to
explore the
scenic and
business
potential of a
new country.
He worked as
an expedition
photographer
for Professor
Cory of
Grahamstown
University
before
enlisting for
war service in
South Africa.
After the war
he returned to
Tasmania,
setting up a
studio in
Hobart in
1920.
In
1927 Cato
moved his
studio and
family to
Melbourne
where he was
again assisted
by patronage
from Nellie
Melba. His
studio was a
leader in
social
portraiture
until 1947
when he
retired to
concentrate on
writing. Cato
was encouraged
by the success
of his
autobiography
I Can Take It,
published in
1947, and went
on to produce
The Story of
the Camera in
Australia in
1955. To date
this book has
served as the
only
comprehensive
history of
Australian
photography
yet published.
One of the
strengths of
the book is
Cato’s vivid
pen portraits
of the many
photographers
he met in his
long career.
Cato
was not a
regular
exhibitor in
pictorial
salons
although his
style had
developed from
that movement.
Nor did he
write or
lecture prior
to retirement.
He preferred
to arrange
one-man shows
of his work,
presenting a
particular
theme, such as
‘local
characters’’.
above
text based on
Gael Newton's
Silver
& Grey
More on Jack Cato:
Cosier Thesis 1980 | articles | public collections | selection of photographs
Cosier Thesis 1980 | articles | public collections | selection of photographs
