Guide to the Papers of Harold Cazneaux, 1903-1984 (bulk 1903-1954)

 

Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
MS 8361
Creator:
Cazneaux, Harold, 1878-1953
Extent:
0.3 metres and (2 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Harold Cazneaux, National Library of Australia, MS 8361, [series and file/item number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The papers relate to the life and work of renowned Australian photographer, Harold Cazneaux. They include letters, telegrams, cards, newscuttings, notes and drafts of reviews and journal articles.
Biographical Note:

Harold Pierce Cazneaux was born on 30 March 1878 in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Pierce Mott and Emma Florence Cazneau. His father, an English-born photographer and his mother, a colorist and miniature painter from Sydney had moved to Wellington in 1876, where they established a photographic studio.

The family returned to Sydney in 1887 and two years later moved to Adelaide where Pierce Cazneau was employed at William H. Hammer and Company, a well established portrait studio. At the age of 18, Harold Cazneaux joined his father at the studio as an artist-retoucher. He also attended evening classes at the Adelaide School of Design under the instruction of Henry Pelham Gill. Also studying under Gill at this time was Hans Heysen, who became a friend in later years.

An international photographic exhibition was held in Adelaide in 1898. Amongst the exhibitors was Australian photographer, John Kauffman, a pioneer of the 'Pictorial Movement' whose work had a great influence upon Cazneaux.

In 1904 Cazneaux moved to Sydney and began working at Freeman and Company studios. It was also at this time that he added an 'x' to his name to acknowledge his French ancestry and to establish his own identity. Later that year he had saved enough money to buy his first camera, a Midge box quarter-plate, and he began experimenting and taking pictures around Sydney's streets and waterways.

While working at Hammer's studio in Adelaide, Cazneaux met Mable Winifred Hodge. They married in 1905 and had five daughters and a son. His daughters were to become the subject of many of his photographs and all of them assisted him at some stage in his studio at the family home in Roseville known as 'Ambleside'. Their son Harold, who accompanied his father on a number of trips to the Flinders Ranges, was killed on war service at Tobruk in 1941.

Cazneaux joined the Photographic Society of New South Wales in 1907 and began showing his photographs at member exhibitions. Following the success of his work he was asked to hold a one-man exhibition (a first in Australia) in 1909. In the following years he also exhibited successfully overseas and developed a growing reputation as a photographer and as a critic. In 1914 he won the 'Kodak Happy Moment' competition and used the prize money (100 pounds) as a deposit for the house in Roseville. In 1916, along with a group of friends, he established the Sydney Camera Circle.

By 1918 Cazneaux was suffering from ill health and left Freeman and Company to set up his own studio. In late 1919 he was approached by Sydney Ure Smith to become the official photographer for his publications The Home and Art in Australia and began working for them in early 1920. The assignments for these two magazines were varied and included photographing the homes and gardens of Sydney socialites and taking portraits of artists, musicians and actors.

Ure Smith also published several pictorial books containing Cazneaux's work in the late 1920s and early 1930s. These included Canberra, Australia's federal capital (1928), Sydney surfing (1929), The bridge book (1930), The Australian native bear book (1930), The Sydney book (1931) and The Frensham book (1934). In 1935 he was commissioned by Broken Hill Proprietary to photograph their steelworks at Newscastle, NSW and their iron works in South Australia. He also wrote many articles for various magazines and newspapers including the Australasian Photo-Review, the Lone Hand and the Sydney Mail.

In his fifties Cazneaux turned to a new interest in the photographing of the landscape and his travels included visits to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. His subjects included gum trees with 'The spirit of endurance' being one of his most well known works.

In 1937 Cazneaux was made an Honary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. In 1952 a tribute evening to Cazneaux was organised by members of the Sydney Camera Circle and other photographic societies. Lantern slides of his best works along with a recorded commentary between Cazneaux and photographer Monte Luke were shown to an audience of around 2000 people at the Assembly Hall, Sydney. In December of the same year, a special 'Cazneaux story' edition of the Australasian Photo-Review was published. It included many of his photographs and a biographical article by Jack Cato, the Melbourne photographer and historian of Australian photography.

Cazneaux died at his Roseville home on 19 June 1953.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

  • Harold Cazneaux, Australian Dictionary Online, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070607b.htm.
  • Australian observer: the photographs of Harold Cazneaux, 1878-1953, http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/caz/ (Accessed December 2007)
  • Cazneaux, Harold, Harold Cazneaux: the quiet observer / introduced by Helen Ennis ; with a personal commentary by Phillip Adams, Canberra : National Library of Australia, 1994.
  • Cazneaux, Harold, Harold Cazneaux photographs, Glebe, N.S.W : Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 1994.
  • Cazneaux, Harold, Cazneaux: photographs by Harold Cazneaux, 1878-1953 / selected and with an appreciation by Max Dupain, Canberra : National Library of Australia.
  • Hill, Valerie, The Cazneaux women, Sydney, N.S.W : Craftsman House, c.2000.
Provenance:

The papers were presented to the Library in 1991 by Mrs Joan Smith, Cazneaux's youngest daughter.

Arrangement:

The papers, at the time of their receipt in 1991, had been sorted and arranged by the Cazneaux family into nine ring bound folders. Correspondence in Folders 2 and 5 had also been indexed by correspondent, date and subject of letter. This original arrangement was retained by the Library and the original finding aid compiled in 1992 contained a description of the contents of each folder, with the correspondence indexes included as appendices.

In December 20007 the finding aid to the Cazneaux Papers was revised. The nine folders and an additional donation of letters (2003) were re-organised into three series, with enhancements made to the original folder descriptions. The correspondence indexes were amalgamated into the relevant folder descriptions.

Indexed terms

Names:
Cazneaux, Harold, 1878-1953

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Available for research. Not for loan.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Harold Cazneaux, National Library of Australia, MS 8361, [series and file/item number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: