Harold Cazneaux
Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953) is widely considered the greatest Australian photographer of the early 20th century.
In portraiture, architectural and industrial photography, landscapes and documentary work, he showed versatility, great imagination and technical mastery, and inspired the next generation of Australian photographers. In 1978, Max Dupain penned a thoughtful appreciation of ‘Caz’ and selected the images reproduced in this new title.
The Cazneaux collection at the National Library comprises 272 exhibition prints, 200 working photographs and about 4,300 glass negatives, dating from roughly 1904 to 1940.
This title showcases 80 of Cazneaux's stunning images and is accompanied by an appreciation letter written by Max Dupain and a biography of Cazneaux from Alec Bolton.
The Artists of the National Library of Australia book series showcases the Library’s extensive pictures collection.
[Cazneaux’s] work is what matters, its place in the history of Australian photography and its influence on past, present and future generations of photographers.
In the collection
Harold Cazneaux, Come in, old Sydney, 1908, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140175608
Harold Cazneaux, Come in, old Sydney, 1908, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140175608
Harold Cazneaux, The wheel of youth, 1929, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140182526
Harold Cazneaux, The wheel of youth, 1929, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140182526
Harold Cazneaux, The bamboo blind : portrait of Beryl Cazneaux, 1915, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140186175
Harold Cazneaux, The bamboo blind : portrait of Beryl Cazneaux, 1915, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140186175
Harold Cazneaux, Sydney surfing, 1929, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140180873
Harold Cazneaux, Sydney surfing, 1929, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140180873
Harold Cazneaux, Wet day, Bridge Street, Sydney, 1910, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140225734
Harold Cazneaux, Wet day, Bridge Street, Sydney, 1910, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140225734
Other titles in this series
Delve deeper
John Immig, Olympus digital cameras ready for recycling, New South Wales, March 2008, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147954518
More to explore
Harold Cazneaux's first camera, 1904, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141166704
Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953) was perhaps Australia's best-known photographer of the early twentieth century. He purchased this camera in 1904, shortly after moving from Adelaide to Sydney, and made photographs of Sydney's streets and waterways.
In 1909 he became the first Australian photographer to exhibit his works in a solo show.
Cazneaux was a master of the pictorialist style of photography, using soft focus to capture scenes that were - and remain - familiar to many Australians in a new light. He was able to find a timeless, extraordinary beauty in the everyday.
Ellis Rowan, Chrysanthemums, ca. 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138089294
Australian artist Ellis Rowan primarily worked in watercolour and gouache, and is best known for painting Australian native flowers. She caused a stir at the 1888–89 Centennial International Exhibition in Melbourne when her painting Chrysanthemums won First Order of Merit and Gold Medal. This similar painting, depicting the same type of flower, is a more recent addition to the Library's vast Rowan Collection, the bulk of which was acquired for the nation for £5,000 in 1923.