Frank Hurley
Encyclopedia
James Francis "Frank" 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 but he also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation for which he has been criticised on the grounds that it diminished the documentary value of his work.
. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Hurley was also the official photographer on 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 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
.
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 colour photographs of the conflict. His period with the AIF ended in March 1918. Hurley also served as a war photographer during World War II
.
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
.
(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).
, Canberra
, National Library of Australia
, Canberra
, Scott Polar Research Institute
, Cambridge, Royal Geographical Society
, London, and the South Australian Museum
, Adelaide.
National Library of Australia
The collection contains 10,999 glass negatives, plastic 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.
The collection contains 1000 photographic prints. 44 prints have been catalogued and digitised.
This album contains 60 gelatin silver photographs by Hurley, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
The collection contains 259 photographic prints, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(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 but he also used staged scenes, composites and photographic manipulation for which he has been criticised on the grounds that it diminished the documentary value of his work.
Biography
Hurley was the third of five children to parents Edward and Margaret Hurley and was raised in Glebe, a suburb of Sydney, AustraliaGlebe, New South Wales
Glebe is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located 3 km south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region....
. 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
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
Box Brownie
Brownie (camera)
Brownie is the name of a long-running and extremely popular series of simple and inexpensive cameras made by Eastman Kodak. The Brownie popularized low-cost photography and introduced the concept of the snapshot. The first Brownie, introduced in February, 1900, was a very basic cardboard box camera...
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.
Antarctic expeditions
Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
was planning an expedition to Antarctica; fellow Sydney-sider Henri Mallard
Henri Mallard
Henri Marie Joseph Mallard, Australian Photographer Born in Balmain of French parents, he came to photography via the industry. Using his French connections, and accent , he secured a position in 1900 with Harrington as a sales representative to the French consulate...
in 1911, recommended Hurley for the position of official photographer to Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Australasian Antarctic Expedition
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was an Australasian scientific team that explored part of Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, who was knighted for his achievements in leading the expedition. In 1910 he began to plan an expedition to chart...
, ahead of himself. 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. 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.
Hurley was also the official photographer on Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition , also known as the Endurance Expedition, is considered the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent...
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
Paget process
The Paget process was an early colour photography process patented in Britain in 1912 by G.S. Whitfield and first marketed by the Paget Prize Plate Company in 1913. A paper-based Paget process was also briefly sold. Both were discontinued in the early 1920s...
of colour photography. He later compiled his records into the documentary film South in 1919. His footage was also used in the 2001 IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure is an IMAX film about the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton between 1914 and 1917. Directed by George Butler, the film was released in February 2001 and was narrated by Kevin Spacey...
.
Wartime photography
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second 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 colour photographs of the conflict. His period with the AIF ended in March 1918. Hurley also served as a war photographer during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Movie photography
Hurley also used a movie cameraMovie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
to record a range of experiences including the Antarctic expeditions, the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
, and war in the Middle East during World War II. The camera was a Debrie Parvo
Debrie Parvo
The Parvo was a 35mm motion picture camera developed in France by Joseph Jules Debrie, in 1908. The camera was relatively compact for its time. It was hand cranked, as were its predecessors...
L 35mm hand-crank camera made in France. This camera is now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....
.
Film Career
Hurley made several documentaries throughout his career, most notably Pearls and Savages (1921). He wrote and directed several dramatic feature films, including Jungle WomanJungle Woman (1926 film)
Jungle Woman is a 1926 Australian film directed by Frank Hurley. It was short partly on location in Thursday Island back to back with another Hurley feature, The Hound of the Deep .-External links:* in the Internet Movie Database...
(1926) and The Hound of the Deep
The Hound of the Deep
The Hound of the Deep is a 1926 British-Australian silent drama film directed by Frank Hurley and starring Eric Bransby Williams, Lilian Douglas and Jameson Thomas....
(1926). He also worked as cinematographer for Cinesound Productions
Cinesound Productions
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was one of Australia's first feature film production companies. Established in June 1932, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred around Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from production, to distribution and...
where his best known film credits include The Squatter's Daughter
The Squatter's Daughter
The Squatter's Daughter is a 1933 Australian melodrama starring Jocelyn Howarth. It is based on a 1907 play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan which had been previously filmed in 1910.-Synopsis:...
(1933), The Silence of Dean Maitland
The Silence of Dean Maitland
-Synopsis:The plot concerns a clergyman, Cyril Maitland , living in a small seaside town, who impregnates the beautiful Alma Lee despite being engaged to another woman. When Alma's father Ben finds out about the pregnancy, he attacks Maitland and is killed in a fall...
(1934) and Grandad Rudd
Grandad Rudd
Grandad Rudd is a 1935 comedy featuring the Dad and Dave characters created by Steele Rudd and based on a play by Rudd. It was a sequel to On Our Selection, and was later followed by Dad and Dave Come to Town and Dad Rudd, MP.-Original Play:...
(1935).
Photographic holdings
Photographs by Hurley of the Antarctic are held by a number of institutions. Notable collections include the Australian War MemorialAustralian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
, Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Scott Polar Research Institute
Scott Polar Research Institute
The Scott Polar Research Institute is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south of Cambridge ....
, Cambridge, Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, London, and the South Australian Museum
South Australian Museum
The South Australian Museum is a museum in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultural precinct of the Adelaide Parklands.-History:...
, Adelaide.
National Library of Australia
- Frank Hurley Negative Collection, 1910–1962
The collection contains 10,999 glass negatives, plastic 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, 1910–1962
The collection contains 1000 photographic prints. 44 prints have been catalogued and digitised.
This album contains 60 gelatin silver photographs by Hurley, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
The collection contains 259 photographic prints, all of which have been catalogued and digitised.
Selected Filmography
- 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 WomanJungle Woman (1926 film)Jungle Woman is a 1926 Australian film directed by Frank Hurley. It was short partly on location in Thursday Island back to back with another Hurley feature, The Hound of the Deep .-External links:* in the Internet Movie Database...
(1926) - writer, director - The Hound of the DeepThe Hound of the DeepThe Hound of the Deep is a 1926 British-Australian silent drama film directed by Frank Hurley and starring Eric Bransby Williams, Lilian Douglas and Jameson Thomas....
(1926) - writer, director - The Squatter's DaughterThe Squatter's DaughterThe Squatter's Daughter is a 1933 Australian melodrama starring Jocelyn Howarth. It is based on a 1907 play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan which had been previously filmed in 1910.-Synopsis:...
(1933) - cinematographer - The Silence of Dean MaitlandThe Silence of Dean Maitland-Synopsis:The plot concerns a clergyman, Cyril Maitland , living in a small seaside town, who impregnates the beautiful Alma Lee despite being engaged to another woman. When Alma's father Ben finds out about the pregnancy, he attacks Maitland and is killed in a fall...
(1934) - cinematographer - Grandad RuddGrandad RuddGrandad Rudd is a 1935 comedy featuring the Dad and Dave characters created by Steele Rudd and based on a play by Rudd. It was a sequel to On Our Selection, and was later followed by Dad and Dave Come to Town and Dad Rudd, MP.-Original Play:...
(1935) - cinematographer - Tall TimbersTall Timbers (1937 film)-Production:It was based on an original story by Frank Hurley which was rewritten by Frank Harvey. Hall claims it had no connection with the 1926 film Tall Timber, which he had never seen. He also said the resulting movie was "weak as hell"....
(1937) - original story
External links
- Guide to the Papers of Frank Hurley, National Library of Australia – Note: the diaries in Series 1 have been digitised and accessible online
- Colour photographs by Frank Hurley from the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
- "Frank Hurley: An Australian Legend" (in Spanish)
- AWM biography
- Kodak feature on Frank Hurley during his voyage with Ernest Shackleton aboard the Endurance
- Frank Hurley obit
- Frank Hurley website
- Frank Hurley at the National Film and Sound Archive
- Frank Hurley's camera at the National Museum of Australia
- Hurley, James Francis (Frank) (1885–1962), Australian Dictionary of Biography