Photograph - View of Mary River
Production date
1864-1871
Country
Australia
State/Province
Queensland
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Object detail
Description
Depicts a river scene with a sailboat and two figures climbing onto the rocky riverbank, one helping to pull up the other. The figures appear to be embellishments to the original image. According to a list of photographs shown at the Sydney International Exhibition this is a photograph depicting the Mary River with scrub land on one side and forest on the other.
Classification
PHOTOGRAPHS
Maker
Production date
1864-1871
Production place
Measurements
H442 x W607 x D15 mm
Media/Materials description
Albumen print, overpainted, mounted on board, on wooden stretcher, nails.
History and use
This scene was photographed by geologist Richard Daintree and comprises part of a collection of over 200 photographic prints, many overpainted to provide colour, taken in Queensland during the mid to late 19th century.
Daintree was a partner in pastoral and prospecting ventures in the Burdekin region of north Queensland during the mid-1860s. He was responsible for opening up goldfields in north Queensland, while also leading the Queensland Geological Survey from 1868-1870. It was during his time in Queensland, that this photographic collection was developed. The collection includes a large number of natural scenes, which capture the landscape and geology of the state at that time. Some of these images were used in International Exhibitions from 1871 onwards, six of which Daintree oversaw himself. These overseas exhibitions were a form of “propaganda and education” to promote the state and its resources to an international market. Daintree’s work displays a high-level of skill, as the photographs were often taken in difficult conditions using the cumbersome wet-plate photography process. The vivid quality of the photographs in this collection document landscapes, geological formations, and early European settlement in Queensland.
Daintree was a partner in pastoral and prospecting ventures in the Burdekin region of north Queensland during the mid-1860s. He was responsible for opening up goldfields in north Queensland, while also leading the Queensland Geological Survey from 1868-1870. It was during his time in Queensland, that this photographic collection was developed. The collection includes a large number of natural scenes, which capture the landscape and geology of the state at that time. Some of these images were used in International Exhibitions from 1871 onwards, six of which Daintree oversaw himself. These overseas exhibitions were a form of “propaganda and education” to promote the state and its resources to an international market. Daintree’s work displays a high-level of skill, as the photographs were often taken in difficult conditions using the cumbersome wet-plate photography process. The vivid quality of the photographs in this collection document landscapes, geological formations, and early European settlement in Queensland.
Associated person
Registration number
H26837
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