Capturing nature: early scientific photography at the Australian Museum 1857–1893

Foundational photographs

“…31 We can compare the growth of photographic practice by multiple members of the institution in Perth with the early photography at the Australian Museum in Sydney, which Vanessa Finney describes as 'developing expertise through experimentation, trial and error, and learning by doing' the skills required of them. 32 Photographic historian Kelley Wilder reflects that where scientific observation had before required advanced skills of representation acquired through training, as well as concentration and attention to detail, photography promised somewhat of a short cut to acquiring the high standards of documentation necessary. 33 Practitioners in colonial museums were part of a wider community whose members were not necessarily university-trained nor eminent scientists, but who needed to engage in an increasingly professional scientific discourse.…”