Frank Hurley in Papua, Photographs from the 1920-23 Expeditions, by Jim Specht and John Fields.
Frank Hurley’s artistic legacy from a career spanning nearly 60 years places him among the greatest Australian photographers of the twentieth century. When invited to photograph the activities of Anglican missions in Papua in the early 1920s he saw an opportunity to photograph and film what he viewed as an exotic and savage land – and advance an already successful career. Hurley’s photos reflect both an Australian-controlled Papua – a place where government and missionaries exerted a strong influence in the areas they occupied – and a more traditional Papua. These images, together with his diaries, artefacts and film, form a significant archive of Papua’s history.
This is a first edition, 1984 Australian publication collecting 100 photographs from Hurley's expeditions. They span portraits of men and women, posed photos of tribal costumes, scenes of work (fishing, net repair), images of thatched houses and meeting halls, artistic carvings, and landscapes. The photos are reproduced from the original negatives and are marvelously rich and detailed.
Each photo is accompanied by a dedicated text describing the context of the image, often linked to relevant extracts from Hurley's expedition notes. The collection opens with an eight-page introduction describing the expedition, Hurley's work, and the subsequent dispersal of the negatives.
This is a hardback publication, 11in x 10in, 193 pages, 100 plates in black and white. The binding is tight, pages are crisp, and there are no inscriptions or creases. The photographic reproductions are of excellent quality.