Frank Hurley (1885 - 1962)

Frank Hurley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about the Australian photographer and adventurer. For the U.S. congressional candidate, see  United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2010 . For the Australian rugby league footballer of the 1930s, and 1940s, see  Frank Hurley (rugby league) . Frank Hurley Frank Hurley, photographed c.1914 Born 15 October 1885 Glebe, Sydney, Australia Died 16 January 1962 (aged 76) Sydney , Australia Occupation Photographer Nationality Australian Notable works Shackleton's Argonauts : A Saga of Antarctic Icepacks Notable awards Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers  1948 Years active 1908–1948 James Francis Hurley ,  OBE  (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to  Antarctica  and served as an official photographer with Australian forces during both  world wars . His artistic style produced many memorable images. He also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation. Contents 1 Biography 2 Antarctic expeditions 3 Wartime photography 4 Movie photography 5 Film career 6 In Collections 7 Selected filmography 8 Photographic Books by Hurley 9 Prose works 10 Films about Hurley 11 Writings about Hurley 12 See also 13 References 14 External links Biography [ edit ] Hurley was the third of five children to parents Edward and Margaret Hurley and was raised in  Glebe, a suburb of Sydney, Australia . [1]  He ran away from home at the age of 13 to work on the Lithgow steel mill, returning home two years later to study at the local technical school and attend science lectures at the  University of Sydney . When he was 17 he bought his first camera, a 15-shilling  Kodak   Box Brownie  which he paid for at the rate of a shilling per week. He taught himself photography and set himself up in the postcard business, where he gained a reputation for putting himself in danger in order to produce stunning images, including placing himself in front of an oncoming train to capture it on film. Hurley married Antoinette Rosalind Leighton on 11 April 1918. [2]  The couple had four children: identical twin daughters, Adelie (later a press photographer) and Toni, a one son, Frank and youngest daughter Yvonne. [3] While living on  Collaroy Plateau , ( Warringah  LGA), Frank became involved with ABC radio. He was a frequent storyteller on the perennial children's program  The Argonauts . [ citation needed ]  He enjoyed even more a degree of commercial success by publishing his photos on advertising calendars, postcards and tourist booklets. [ citation needed ] His most successful book was  Australia: A Camera Study  published in 1955 and reprinted three times. [ citation needed ] He engaged in aerial photography with Brud Rees on his Piper Cub float plane. He travelled extensively throughout Australia commissioned on various photographic assignments. [4] Antarctic expeditions [ edit ] Of his lifetime, Frank Hurley spent more than four years in Antarctica. [5]  At the age of 23, in 1908, Hurley learned that Australian explorer  Douglas Mawson  was planning an expedition to Antarctica; fellow Sydney-sider  Henri Mallard  in 1911, recommended Hurley for the position of official photographer to Mawson's  Australasian Antarctic Expedition , ahead of himself. [6]  Hurley asserts in his biography that he then cornered Mawson as he was making his way to their interview on a train, using the advantage to talk his way into the job. [7] Mawson was persuaded, while Mallard, who was the manager of Harringtons (a local Kodak franchise) to which Hurley was in debt, provided photographic equipment. The Expedition departed in 1911, returning in 1914. On his return, he edited and released a documentary,  Home of the Blizzard , using his footage from the expedition. [2] Hurley was also the official photographer on  Sir Ernest Shackleton 's  Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition  which set out in 1914 and was marooned until August 1916; Hurley produced many pioneering colour images of the Expedition using the then-popular  Paget process of colour photography. He photographed in  South Georgia  in 1917. He later compiled his records into the documentary film  South  in 1919. His footage was also used in the 2001  IMAX  film  Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure . He returned to the Antarctic in 1929 and 1931 on Mawson's British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions ( BANZARE ). Wreck of the 'Gratitude', Macquarie Island, 1911   Endurance in Antarctica, 1915   Frank Hurley,  HMS Endurance trapped in Antarctic pack ice , 1915,  National Library of Australia  in Canberra   The  Endurance   Endurance Final Sinking   Mawson leaning against the wind   The Elephant Island party   Hurley with a cinematograph in South Georgia, Antarctica Business card, 1910 Wartime photography [ edit ] In 1917, Hurley joined the  Australian Imperial Force  (AIF) as an honorary  captain  and captured many stunning battlefield scenes during the  Third Battle of Ypres . In keeping with his adventurous spirit, he took considerable risks to photograph his subjects, also producing many rare panoramic and colour photographs of the conflict. Hurley kept a diary in 1917-1918 chronicling his time as a war photographer. [8]  In it he describes his commitment "to illustrate to the public the things our fellows do and how war is conducted", as well as his short-lived resignation in October 1917 when he was ordered not to produce composite images. [9]  His period with the AIF ended in March 1918. For the 1918 London exhibition  Australian War Pictures and Photographs  he employed composites for photomurals to convey drama of the war on a scale otherwise not possible using the technology available. This brought Hurley into conflict with the AIF on the grounds that montage diminished documentary value. [10]   Charles Bean , official war historian, labelled Hurley's composite images "fake". [2] Hurley also served as a war photographer during  World War II . An episode after the Battle of Zonnebeke (a composite image) [2] [11] [12]   Supports going up after battle to relieve the front trenches, note the three observation balloons above the bright cloud   A trench in the low flat country near La Bassee Ville   Chateau Wood,  Ypres , 1917 by Frank Hurley   Australian soldiers in action, September 1917   Soldiers in dugout   An Australian Light Horseman   1st Australian Flying Corps, Palestine Movie photography [ edit ] Hurley, on the right, discusses photographic opportunities for the forthcoming Battle of Bardia with an officer of the Australian 6th Division, Egypt, 1940 Hurley also used a  movie camera  to record a range of experiences including the Antarctic expeditions, the building of the  Sydney Harbour Bridge , and war in the Middle East during World War II. The camera was a  Debrie Parvo  L 35mm hand-crank camera made in France. This camera is now in the collection of the  National Museum of Australia . [13] Film career [ edit ] Hurley made several documentaries throughout his career, most notably  Pearls and Savages  (1921). He wrote and directed several dramatic feature films, including  Jungle Woman  (1926) and  The Hound of the Deep  (1926). He also worked as cinematographer for  Cinesound Productions  where his best known film credits include  The Squatter's Daughter  (1933),  The Silence of Dean Maitland  (1934) and  Grandad Rudd  (1935). His 1941 documentary short  Sagebrush and Silver  was nominated for an  Academy Award  at the  14th Academy Awards  for  Best Short Subject (One-Reel) . [14] In Collections [ edit ] "A radiant turret lit by the midsummer midnight sun", 1912 photo by Hurley held by  State Library of New South Wales . Photographs by Hurley of the Antarctic are held by a number of institutions. Notable collections include the  Australian War Memorial ,  Canberra ,  National Library of Australia ,  Canberra ,  State Library of New South Wales ,  Sydney ,  Scott Polar Research Institute , Cambridge,  Royal Geographical Society , London,  State Records of South Australia , and the  South Australian Museum , Adelaide. National Library of Australia Frank Hurley Negative Collection , [15]  1910–1962 The collection contains 10,999 glass negatives, gelatin negatives, colour transparencies, lantern slides, and stereographs that have been fully catalogued and digitised. The collection covers photographs of Hurley's trips to Antarctica; as official photographer during World War I 1914–1918; later travels in the Middle East and Egypt; as official photographer during World War II 1939–1945; Papua and New Guinea; Australian scenery, industries and social life and customs. Related photographic prints can be found in the  Hurley Collection of Photographic Prints . Hurley collection of photographic prints , [16]  1910–1962 The collection contains 1000 photographic prints. 44 prints have been catalogued and digitised. B.A.N.Z. Antarctic Research Expedition 1929–31, photographs , [17]  1929–1931 This album contains 60 gelatin silver photographs by Hurley, all of which have been catalogued and digitised. Photograph album of Papua and the Torres Strait , [18] The collection contains 259 photographic prints, all of which have been catalogued and digitised. State Library of New South Wales  - Negatives from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14, colour Paget plates taken by Hurley on Shackleton Expedition. Vintage prints used for the creation of the official scientific reports from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14. Vintage prints of Antarctica, World War One, Australia and Java displayed in exhibitions in London and Sydney c.1919. Most of the collections have been digitised and are available online. British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917, Frank Hurley, 32 Paget colour screen glass plates,  ON 26 . World War I: France, Belgium, Palestine, 1917-1918 Frank Hurley, 49 Paget colour screen glass plates,  ON 25 Frank Hurley collection of diaries, 10 Nov. 1912 - 13 Aug. 1918, together with related papers ca.1920, miscellaneous material, 1909-ca. 1925, MLMSS 389 . Photographs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14, 2,100 glass plate negatives, official photographs by Frank Hurley others by Blake, Coombe, Correll, Davis, Gillies, Gray, Hamilton, Hoadley, Hunter, Hurley, Laseron, McGrath, McLean, Mawson, Mertz, Moyes, Primmer, Sandell, Sawyer and Wild.  Series 01, ON 144 Stereo photographs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14, 100 half plate stereoscopic negatives, a photographer currently unidentified but some may be by Frank Hurley.  Series 02, ON 144 Shackleton Expedition, 24 silver gelatin photoprints by Frank Hurley, 1914-1917,  PXA 715 . Original pictorial material reproduced in the `Scientific reports'from Australasian Antarctic Expedition papers, 1911-1914, includes vintage prints and drawings, some by Hurley,  PXE 725 Scenes inside the workshop, Antarctic views, from Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-194, vintage prints by Frank Hurley and Hamilton,  PXD 679 Vintage prints for an exhibition of pictures taken during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition and other photographic studies, from The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London, by Frank Hurley, 120 carbon prints,  PXD 156, PXD 157, PXD 158, PXD 159, PXD 160, PXD 161 Vintage prints for an exhibition of pictures of photographic studies, from The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London, by Frank Hurley, 26 carbon prints,  PXD 162 Exhibition of war photographs, exhibited at The Kodak Salon, George Street, Sydney, in early 1919, 125 carbon prints, Frank Hurley,  PXD 19 - PXD 31, XV*/Wor W 1/3, XV*/Wor W 1/4, XV*/Wor W 1/5, XV*/Wor W 1/6, XV*/Wor W 1/7, XV*/Wor W 1/8 State Records of South Australia As part of South Australia's Centenary celebration in 1936, Frank Hurley was commissioned to produce images of South Australia for inclusion in an illustrated souvenir booklet. [19]  The resulting glass plate negatives are held as part of a series of glass plate negatives produced by or for the South Australian Government for publicity or other purposes. [20] At this time, Hurley was also commissioned to produce a couple of promotional films for the South Australian Government,  Oasis [21]  and  Here is Paradise . [22] Selected filmography [ edit ] Home of the Blizzard  (1913) (documentary) Into the Unknown  (1914) (documentary) In the Grip of the Polar Ice  (1917) (documentary) - director South (1919)  (documentary)- cinematographer, director Pearls and Savages  (1921) (documentary) - director Jungle Woman  (1926) - writer, director The Hound of the Deep  (1926) - writer, director The Squatter's Daughter  (1933) - cinematographer The Silence of Dean Maitland  (1934) - cinematographer Grandad Rudd  (1935) - cinematographer Tall Timbers  (1937) - original story A Nation is Built  (1938) The Eternal Forest [23]  (1952) Antarctic Pioneers [24]  (1962) co-director with Philip Law Photographic Books by Hurley [ edit ] Hurley, Frank (c. 1900).  "Australia, in natural colour" . s.l: John Sands. Hurley, Frank (1956).  "Manly: South Pacific playground in natural colour" . Sydney: John Sands. Hurley, Frank (c. 1900).  "South Australia: in natural colour" . Adelaide: John Sands. Hurley, Frank (1915).  "Exhibition of unique photographic pictures taken during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition: also other photographic studies" . London: The Fine Art Society. Hurley, Frank (c. 1920).  "Catalogue of an exhibition of war photographs by Capt. F. Hurley, late official photographer with the A.I.F., held at the Kodak Salon, Sydney" . Sydney?: s.n. Hurley, Frank (c. 1920).  "Gems of Jenolan" . Sydney: New South Wales Government Tourist Bureau. Hurley, Frank (1924).  "Pearls and savages: adventures in the air, on land and sea in New Guinea" . New York: Putnam's Sons. Hurley, Frank (1925).  "Argonauts of the south, by Captain Frank Hurley ... being a narrative of voyagings and polar seas and adventures in the Antarctic with Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton; with 75 illustrations and maps" . New York; London: G.P. Putnam's sons. Hurley, Frank (1949). The Holy City: A Camera Study of Jerusalem and Surroundings. Hurely, Frank (1950). Queensland: A Camera Study, Angus and Robertson. Hurley, Frank (195-?). Beautiful Hobart. Hurley, Frank (1953) Western Australia: A Camera Study, Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Hurley, Frank (1955). Australia: A Camera Study. Hurley, Frank (1955). Sydney in Natural Colour. Hurley, Frank (1956). Victoria: A Camera Study, Sydney. Hurley, Frank (1956). Beautiful Sydney. Hurley, Frank (1956). Hobart in Natural Colour. Hurley, Frank (1957). Launceston and North West Coast of Tasmania in Natural Colour. Hurley, Frank (1958). Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves in Natural Colour. Hurley, Frank (1961). Snowy Mountains, The Camera Study. Prose works [ edit ] Pearls and Savages : Adventures in the Air, on Land and Sea - in New Guinea  (1924) - travel Shackleton's Argonauts : A Saga of the Antarctic Ice-Pack  (1948) - children's information The Diaries of Frank Hurley 1912-1941  (2011) - diary Films about Hurley [ edit ] Snow, Sand & Savages: the life of Frank Hurley , 1999 Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History , 2004 Writings about Hurley [ edit ] Hurley, Frank, 1885-1962 & Ponting, Herbert, 1870-1935 &  Boddington, Jennie , 1922- (1979). Antarctic photographs 1910-1916. Macmillan, London Dixon Robert (2012). Photography, early cinema and colonial modernity  : Frank Hurley's synchronized lecture entertainments. Edited by Robert Dixon and Christopher Lee (2011). The Diaries of 1912-1941 . Ennis, Helen (2010).  Frank Hurley's Antarctica . Canberra: National Library of Australia.  ISBN   978-0-642-27698-8 . Kleinig, Simon (August 2003).  "Hiking with Hurley" .  NLA News, Volume 13, Number 11 . National Library of Australia. McGregor, Alasdair (2004).  Frank Hurley: A photographer's life . Camberwell: Viking.  ISBN   978-0-670-88895-5 . Millar, David P. (1984).  From snowdrift to shellfire : Capt. James Francis (Frank) Hurley, 1885–1962 . Sydney: David Ell Press.  ISBN   978-0-908197-59-0 . See also [ edit ] Cinema of Australia List of Australian diarists of World War I Photography in Australia John Watt Beattie William Bland Jeff Carter (photographer) Jack Cato Maggie Diaz Ken G. Hall Charles Kerry Henry King (photographer) David Perry (Australian filmmaker) Ruby Spowart Mark Strizic

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