The forgotten pictorialists: a Western Australian photographic history 1890-1930

Western Australian art photography and early photography are poorly represented in the documentary record of Australian photographic history. Nationally, most historical art photography has been obscured in the shadow of a small number of well-known photographers. This study clears away some of the obscurity and enlarges the documentary record. It charts the development of photography in Western Australia from early beginnings in documentary or ‘survey’ photography through to pictorialism in the early twentieth century. The focus of the study is the work of the state’s highly accomplished amateur photographers (not the commercial photographers).