SUBLIME SOULS & SYMPHONIES:
Australian PhotoTexts 1926–1966,  Eric Riddler 1993

introduction to this thesis |   table of contents  |   1926-1966 chronology of photo-books

Chapter 1  |   Chapter 2   |   Chapter 3  |   Chapter 4   |    Chapter 5  |   Chapter 6   |   Chapter 7  |   Chapter 8   |    Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The purpose of historical research is to promote a view of history which has been under-promoted in previous years. To this end, the preceding data and observations were intended as an examination of the role of creative photography in the promotion of Australia as well as the role of the promotion of Australia in creative photography.

The limited extent to which the phototexts were analysed in previous photographic histories was the basis of the argument. A long-term interest in these books initiated the research but the cursory way they were dealt with in the course of documenting Australian photographic history was the determining factor in the development of this piece.

The intention was always to present a thesis documenting the phototext from its emergence from the views trade and salon photography in the mid 1920s to its separation into photo-essays and coffee table books in the mid 1960s. The basis of this argument had to be chronological, listing the various books in the context of their order of their appearance. Next to this there was the need to relate the books to their environment.

Sometimes it is the book's region that dictates its content, sometimes it is the time in which the book is created. Following that, came the need to examine some universal aspects of the books' content, such as the portrayal of the Sydney Harbour Bridge or Melbourne's Collins Street.

A problem with interpreting these books is the knowledge, or intuition, that these books were not necessarily honest with their audience. They were mainly produced as promotions and as such had little latitude with which to examine any negative aspects of their subject. In some cases there is a blatant cover up, as there was with the images of American servicemen with Australian women in Displaying Australia and New Guinea and their telling absence in Displaying Australia.'both. 1945)

In other cases it seems that the photographer is being witty. Max Dupain's image of sheep grazing behind Parliament House in Canberra, National Capital, 1949 (above) , brings to mind the accusation that Canberra was "a good sheep station spoiled", a common enough criticism at the time. The supplied caption, "the rural simplicity of old Canberra lingers on the threshold of the Nation's Parliament", only hints at irony. 

In the end the thesis has been an exercise in Australian history as much as it has been an exercise in photographic history. At a time when history, as a topic, is being questioned in regards as to whether historical study can reveal the truth, writing about books which presented their origins in the best possible circumstances can be a difficult task to reconcile.

The photographers examined, ranging from the famous to the numerous obscure contributors to Departmental files, posed a problem for the original idea behind looking at the use of well known photographers by phototexts publishers. The difference between a classic Dupain photograph and a governmental photograph of the same subject is an arbitrary thing. Dupain's name and the high reputation of his output adds something to the aesthetic value of the actual image. It could turn up on a public gallery wall as a work of 'art'. The anonymous file photograph, if ever displayed, would be of historical value but is unlikely to be considered 'art'.

Thus comes the challenge of writing a thesis which balances these issues as well as possible. The past three years have resulted in many re-writes and outright rejections of arguments, with the additional problem of an annual turnover of supervisors.

This has been the result.

           Eric Riddler 1993

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NEXT >>> Chronology

Introduction to this thesis |   table of contents  |   1926-1966 chronology of photo-books

Chapter 1  |   Chapter 2   |   Chapter 3  |   Chapter 4   |    Chapter 5  |   Chapter 6   |   Chapter 7  |   Chapter 8   |    Conclusion

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Based on the original thesis submitted as part of the requirement of the Masters of Arts - University of Sydney.
This is the 2021 online verson of Eric Riddler's 1993 thesis.
For this 2021 version extra images and links have been added to the text that align with photographs/topics being mentioned.

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