Capturing Nature: Early Scientific Photography at the Australian Museum 1857-1893

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-1-74223-620-9
Verlag: University of New South Wales Press

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 203 mm x 259 mm, Gewicht: 771 g

The ground-breaking scientific photographs of Australian Museum curator Gerard Krefft and taxidermist Henry Barnes are revealed for the first time.

In the mid-nineteenth century, some of the earliest adopters of the revolutionary new art form of photography were scientists. Museums around the world were quick to see the huge potential for capturing fleeting moments of life, death and discovery. At the Australian Museum, curator Gerard Krefft and taxidermist Henry Barnes began to experiment with photography in the 1860s, preparing and staging their specimens — from whales and giant sunfish to lifelike lyre bird scenes and fossils — and capturing them in thousands of beautiful and arresting images.

Capturing Nature reveals this fascinating visual archive for the first time, profiling the remarkable partnership of Krefft and Barnes, their innovative work and the Australian Museum’s urgent quest to become more scientific in its practices.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Finney, Vanessa

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Sonstige Technologien | Angewandte Technik Sonstige Technologien
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Künstlerische Stoffe, Motive, Themen Künstlerische Stoffe, Motive, Themen: Natur & Tiere (Stillleben, Landschaften etc.)
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunst, allgemein Ausstellungskataloge, Museumsführer
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Fotografie Fotografie: Geschichte und Sammlungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Fotografie Einzelne Fotografen

Über Autor(innen)

Vanessa Finney is a curator, historian and archivist with a special interest in natural history in colonial Australia. At the Australian Museum she manages the country’s oldest and largest natural history archives and rare books collection. She is the author of Transformations: Harriet and Helena Scott, Colonial Sydney’s Finest Natural History Painters (NewSouth December 2018).