Chateau Wood,
Ypres, 1917 by Frank Hurley
James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 –
16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer, film
maker and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and
served as an official photographer with Australian forces during both world wars. His artistic
style produced many memorable images but he also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation for which he has
been criticised on the grounds that it diminished the documentary value of his
work.
Hurley travelled on a number of expedititions to the Antarctic including Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic
Expedition. He was a member of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that set out in 1914 and was marooned until August 1916; he made his recordings into the documentary
film South in 1919.
In 1917, Hurley joined the Australian Imperial
Force (AIF) as an honorary captain and captured many stunning battlefield scenes during
the Battle of Passchendaele. In keeping with his adventurous spirit, he took considerable
risks to photograph his subjects. His period with the AIF ended in March 1918. Hurley also served
as a war photographer during World War II.
Photographic holdings
Photographs by Hurley of the Antarctic are held by a number of institutions. Notable collections include the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, National Library of Australia, Canberra,
Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, Royal Geographical Society, London, and the South
Australian Museum, Adelaide.
National Library of Australia
The collection contains 10,999 glass negatives, plastic negatives, colour transparencies, lantern slides, and stereographs
that have been fully catalogued and digitised.
The collection covers photographs of Hurley's trips to Antarctica; as official photographer during World War 1914-1918; later
travels in the Middle East and Egypt; as official photographer during World War 1939-1945; Papua and New Guinea; Australian
scenery, industries and social life and customs.
Related photographic prints can be found in the Hurley Collection of Photographic Prints.
The collection contains 1000 photographic prints. 44 prints have been catalogued and digitised.
This album contains 60 gelatin silver photographs by Hurley, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
The collection contains 259 photographic prints, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
Publications
By Hurley
- Hurley, Frank (19--?). Australia, in
natural colour. s.l: John Sands.
- Hurley, Frank (19--?)). Manly: South
Pacific playground in natural colour. Sydney: John Sands.
- Hurley, Frank (19--?). South Australia: in
natural colour. Adelaide: John Sands.
- Hurley, Frank (1915). Exhibition of unique
photographic pictures taken during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition: also other photographic studies. London: The Fine
Art Society.
- Hurley, Frank (192-?). Catalogue of an
exhibition of war photographs by Capt. F. Hurley, late official photographer with the A.I.F., held at the Kodak Salon,
Sydney. Sydney?: s.n..
- Hurley, Frank (192-?). Gems of
Jenolan. Sydney: New South Wales Government Tourist Bureau.
- Hurley, Frank (1924). Pearls and savages:
adventures in the air, on land and sea in New Guinea. New York: Putnam's Sons.
- Hurley, Frank (1925). Argonauts of the
south, by Captain Frank Hurley ... being a narrative of voyagings and polar seas and adventures in the Antarctic with Sir Douglas
Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton; with 75 illustrations and maps. New York; London: G.P. Putnam's sons.
About Hurley
- Kleinig, Simon (August 2003). Hiking with Hurley. NLA News, Volume 13, Number 11. National Library of Australia.
- McGregor, Alasdair (2004). Frank Hurley: A
photographer's life. Camberwell: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88895-8.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Note: the diaries in Series 1 have been digitised and are accessible online.
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