442936
- TitleSydney, ca. 1885-1890 / photographed by Arthur K. Syer
- Creator
- Call numberPXA 394
- Level of descriptionfonds
- Date
ca. 1885-1890 - Type of material
- Reference code442936
- Issue CopyDigitised
- Physical Description76 photographic prints - albumen - 10 x 15 cm. or smaller
- Scope and ContentStreet scenes in Sydney showing transport deliveries, barrow shopping, queues at Circular Quay, shipping, street cleaning, children playing, scenes at horse races and at a fair and farming scenes. The subjects indicate that they were probably taken with a hidden camera
- Access Conditions
Access via appointment - Copying ConditionsOut of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales - Published InformationArthur Syer, brother of the artist Walter Syer, was a friend of cartoonist Phil May and supplied him with 'snapshot' photographs of ordinary people in daily attire. Phil May, renowned for the life-like quality of his illustrations, used the photographs to impart an authentic atmosphere to his cartoons. Syer's low angle photographs were taken surreptitiously, using a 'detective camera'. Such cameras, sometimes concealed in parcels or portmanteau, were made possible with the invention of the dry plate in 1880. ¶¶Reference:¶'Phil May and his photography', Australian Magazine, 1908. pp 668-677¶¶Some Syer photographs reproduced in: 'Old Books, Old Friends, Old Sydney' / by James R. Tyrrell (1952)
- General note
Undated and untitled
Contents list held at ML Ref shelf and with originals
Copy prints available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room in the Self Indexing Files (refer to contents list for locations)
Digital order no:Album ID : 824197 - Signatures / Inscriptions
Photographer's name stamped on verso of some photos - Attributions / conjectures
PXA 394/no. 46 identified as Circular Quay, from the saw-tooth roof of the woolstore behind the Paragon Hotel
PXA 394/no. 32 identified as outside Petty's Hotel, lokking towards Wynard Square
Reference:
Identified by beachcomberaustralia. http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/ (accessed November 7, 2011; April 11, 2012)
PXA 394/no. 27 identified as A Chinese ""fancy goods"" hawker carrying feather dusters in his baskets, walking across Pyrmont Bridge by Nicola Teffer, January 2014
PXA 394/no. 74 identified as Old Sydney Markets building, George and York Streets, by reader, 24 February 2022 - SubjectCircular Quay (Sydney, N.S.W.)
Darling Harbour (N.S.W.)
George Street (Sydney, N.S.W.)
Governor Bourke Hotel (corner Market & Sussex Streets, Sydney, N.S.W.)
Manly (N.S.W.)
Manly Wharf (N.S.W.)
Pyrmont Bridge (Sydney, N.S.W.)
Sydney Town Hall (Sydney, N.S.W.)
Technological Museum (Sydney, N.S.W.)
Adult Males
Adult Females
Children. - Topic
- Exhibited in
On Sale! Shops & Shopping - State Library of New South Wales (8 August - 30 November, 2011). Applies to: nos. 19, 20, 25
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