Lindt, John William (1845-1926), one of Australia's pre-eminent 19th-century photographers, is best known for his quietly theatrical and melancholic studio portraits of Aboriginal people. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, he arrived in Australia c. 1862 and went into business with the photographer Conrad Wagner at Grafton, NSW. The series Australian Aboriginals (1873-4) posed indigenous people from Clarence River in meticulously constructed studio sets of vegetation and Aboriginal artefacts. Widely disseminated, it influenced the way in which Aboriginal people were represented. In 1876 Lindt moved to Melbourne, setting up his own studio and developing a successful portrait business. In 1885 he accompanied Sir Peter Scratchley's tour of recently annexed Papua New Guinea. There, in a field situation, Lindt's romantic vision resulted in Picturesque New Guinea (1887), which exemplified his motto ‘Truth—but Truth in a pleasant form’.
— Elizabeth Edwards
Bibliography
- Jones, S., J. W. Lindt, Master Photographer (1985)
