Carter Collection

Collection highlights

Black and white photo of cars crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge taken from the middle of the road,

Jeff Carter, Peak hour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1952, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148670425

Black and white photo of three men on a tractor, one driving and the other two sitting at the back

Jeff Carter, Planting out, Ovens Valley, 1955, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148667470

Black and white photo showing three men in swimwear holding up long boards on the sand at a beach

Jeff Carter, The three long board proponents, 1950, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137077262

Woman pouring jam from large pots into tins n a factory

Jeff Carter, A female worker fills gravity delivered empty tins with strawberry jam at the Buderim Ginger and Strawberry Jam Factory, Queensland, 1955, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137080831

Key items in the collection

This collection hosts a range of formats, including:

The Jeff Carter Collection includes interviews with around 40 individuals, primarily from rural towns and properties in New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania.

Early Interviews (1974–75):
Recorded during the filming of the television series Wild Country, these 12 interviews took place in central Australia, including locations such as Alice Springs, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, and Ayers Rock.

Later Interviews (1992–96):

These include:

9 interviews with residents of "Corner Country," including Bourke and Tibooburra.
5 interviews with sleeper cutters and charcoal burners in Mathoura and Echuca.
4 interviews with fishermen in Eden and Bermagui.
Interviews with miners and other locals in Queenstown, Tasmania.

The Jeff Carter Collection includes over 600 photographs, featuring a wide range of subjects:

Photographs from Oral History Interviews (1992–95):
Most of these images are of individuals who participated in Carter’s oral history interviews.
Later Acquisitions (Post-2001):
These photographs, taken from around 1955 onwards, cover diverse themes and are organized into several series, including:
- Queen Victoria Markets, Melbourne
- Travelling vaudeville shows
- Beach culture
- Saturday afternoons in various locations
Worker Groups:
Many images depict workers, such as cane cutters, drovers, Aboriginal workers, fossickers, hop pickers, rabbit shooters, quarry workers, camel drivers, steel workers, tree fellers, and cannery workers.
Other Subjects:
Additional themes include cars, inner Sydney, street scenes, protests, bush weddings, country dances, shearers’ quarters, hotels, and a jam factory.

About Jeff Carter

Early life and career

Jeff Carter (1928–2010) was born in Melbourne and attended Melbourne High School. After leaving school, he embarked on a journey across rural Australia, working as a bush worker while simultaneously pursuing a career as a freelance photographer-journalist. Armed with a typewriter and a folding camera, Carter captured life in remote areas of Australia.

Career in journalism and photography

In 1949, Carter settled in Sydney and became the editor of Outdoors and Fishing magazine, alongside writing western novels. By 1954, he resumed his work as an itinerant freelance journalist, contributing articles to a variety of magazines including Walkabout, Pix, People, Women’s Weekly, Bulletin, and Wheels. He also authored many books focused on rural and outback Australia. Carter went on to produce the television series Wild Country, which further solidified his connection with Australia's wilderness.

In 1962, Carter and his wife purchased a farm at Foxground on the New South Wales south coast, where he continued his work as a photographer and writer.

Photography exhibitions

Carter's first photography exhibition took place in 1991, and he held several exhibitions throughout his career. He often described himself as ‘the photographer of the poor and the unknown,’ focusing on capturing the lives of ordinary people and remote communities.

Notable publications

Among Carter’s many books were:

People of the inland (1966)
Outback in focus (1968)
In the steps of the explorers (1969)
Jeff Carter’s great book of the Australian outdoors (1976)
Four-wheel drive swagman (1977)
From the Alice to the Arctic: 40 years of motoring with Jeff Carter (1989)
Carter’s Central Australia (1993)
Jeff Carter: retrospective (2005)

Jeff Carter's extensive work as a photographer, journalist, and author helped preserve the stories of Australia's rural and outback communities, leaving a lasting legacy on the nation's cultural landscape.

Background to the collection

In 1992, the Library purchased Carter’s recordings of interviews with sleeper cutters. Additional oral history interviews were acquired between 1993 and 1996. The Library also acquired a small number of photographs between 1992 and 1995, with the majority of the photographs purchased after 2001.

The oral history interviews are held in the Oral History Collection. The photographs are in the Pictures Collection. Items are catalogued individually and under various call numbers.

This guide was prepared using these references:

Jeff Carter, From the Alice to the Arctic: 40 years of motoring with Jeff Carter, Sydney : Hodder & Stoughton, 1989
Clare Morgan, 'Ordinary folks loomed large for the visual poetry of the bush' (obituary), Sydney Morning Herald, 28 October 2010
Elizabeth Riddell, 'Carter of the Outback', The Australian, 20 September 1969, page 19.