Henri Mallard
Encyclopedia
Henri Marie Joseph Mallard, Australian Photographer (1884–1967)
Born in Balmain (Sydney, Australia) of French parents, he came to photography via the industry. Using his French connections, and accent (which was strong owing to his home education), he secured a position in 1900 with Harrington (later Kodak Pty Ltd) as a sales representative to the French consulate. He remained with the company, becoming general manager, until 1952. With ready access to equipment and materials he was an enthusiastic amateur exhibitor by 1904.
He used his business and connections to support other photographers; he was influential on fellow Sydney-sider Frank Hurley
, encouraging the budding photographer's interest in the medium and in 1911 recommending Hurley for the position of official photographer to Douglas Mawson's
Australasian Antarctic expedition, ahead of himself.; moving to Harington's Melbourne office in 1913, he opened the showrooms to exhibitions, including that of John Kauffmann in 1914.
He was a strong advocate for art photography; on his return to Sydney (1916) he joined (in 1917) the Sydney Camera Circle whose "manifesto
" had been drawn up and signed on 28 November 1916 by the founding group of six photographers; Harold Cazneaux
, Cecil Bostock
, James Stening, W.S. White, Malcolm McKinnon and James Paton. They pledged "to work and to advance pictorial photography and to show our own Australia in terms of sunlight rather than those of greyness and dismal shadows". He also contributed lectures and technical demonstrations to the New South Wales Photographic Society.
He is best known for his documentation of the Australian icon Sydney Harbour Bridge
between the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Photographing from precarious vantage points on the bridge itself, sometimes a hundred metres above Sydney Harbour, his work sets the construction against the harbour and the growing city and uses the figures of the workers to represent the scale of this Depression
-era engineering feat. His pictures and film of the Bridge were an intentional historical document and the project was self-generated. Between 1930 and 1932, he produced hundreds of stills and film footage.
Prior to his project to document the Bridge, Mallard worked in the Pictorialist
style prevailing in the New South Wales Photographic Society, and though Modernist in composition and design, many of the Bridge images are printed in bromoil
. By comparison, Harold Cazneaux
's contemporaneous photographs, taken from around the base of the bridge, retain a romantic Pictorialism. In 1976 the Australian Centre for Photography commissioned David Moore
(1927–2003) to make an archive of gelatin silver prints from the collection of Mallard's glass negatives and these were published in association with Sun Books in 1978.
Born in Balmain (Sydney, Australia) of French parents, he came to photography via the industry. Using his French connections, and accent (which was strong owing to his home education), he secured a position in 1900 with Harrington (later Kodak Pty Ltd) as a sales representative to the French consulate. He remained with the company, becoming general manager, until 1952. With ready access to equipment and materials he was an enthusiastic amateur exhibitor by 1904.
He used his business and connections to support other photographers; he was influential on fellow Sydney-sider Frank Hurley
Frank Hurley
James Francis "Frank" Hurley, OBE 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...
, encouraging the budding photographer's interest in the medium and in 1911 recommending Hurley for the position of official photographer to Douglas Mawson's
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...
Australasian Antarctic expedition, ahead of himself.; moving to Harington's Melbourne office in 1913, he opened the showrooms to exhibitions, including that of John Kauffmann in 1914.
He was a strong advocate for art photography; on his return to Sydney (1916) he joined (in 1917) the Sydney Camera Circle whose "manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
" had been drawn up and signed on 28 November 1916 by the founding group of six photographers; Harold Cazneaux
Harold Cazneaux
Harold Cazneaux was and Australian pictorialist photographer; a pioneer whose style had an indelible impact on the development of Australian photographic history. In 1916 he was a founder of the Pictorialist Sydney Camera Circle...
, Cecil Bostock
Cecil Bostock
Cecil Westmoreland Bostock was born in England. He immigrated to New South Wales, Australia, with his parents in 1888. His father, George Bostock, was a bookbinder.who died a few years later in 1892....
, James Stening, W.S. White, Malcolm McKinnon and James Paton. They pledged "to work and to advance pictorial photography and to show our own Australia in terms of sunlight rather than those of greyness and dismal shadows". He also contributed lectures and technical demonstrations to the New South Wales Photographic Society.
He is best known for his documentation of the Australian icon 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...
between the late 1920s to the early 1930s. Photographing from precarious vantage points on the bridge itself, sometimes a hundred metres above Sydney Harbour, his work sets the construction against the harbour and the growing city and uses the figures of the workers to represent the scale of this Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-era engineering feat. His pictures and film of the Bridge were an intentional historical document and the project was self-generated. Between 1930 and 1932, he produced hundreds of stills and film footage.
Prior to his project to document the Bridge, Mallard worked in the Pictorialist
Pictorialism
Pictorialism is the name given to a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process. It reached its height in the early years of the 20th century, and declined rapidly after 1914 after the widespread emergence of Modernism...
style prevailing in the New South Wales Photographic Society, and though Modernist in composition and design, many of the Bridge images are printed in bromoil
Bromoil Process
The Bromoil Process was an early photographic process that was very popular with the Pictorialists during the first half of the twentieth century...
. By comparison, Harold Cazneaux
Harold Cazneaux
Harold Cazneaux was and Australian pictorialist photographer; a pioneer whose style had an indelible impact on the development of Australian photographic history. In 1916 he was a founder of the Pictorialist Sydney Camera Circle...
's contemporaneous photographs, taken from around the base of the bridge, retain a romantic Pictorialism. In 1976 the Australian Centre for Photography commissioned David Moore
David Moore (photographer)
David Moore was an Australian photojournalist.Moore was educated at Geelong Grammar School. He began his career in the studio of Russell Roberts in Sydney, moving on to work with Max Dupain soon after...
(1927–2003) to make an archive of gelatin silver prints from the collection of Mallard's glass negatives and these were published in association with Sun Books in 1978.
“Here we have the documentary photograph, radical enough in its context, the social document, a large slice of Sydney’s evolution and an example to all of us who think of future generations in terms of historical narration.” Max DupainMax DupainMaxwell Spencer Dupain AC was a renowned Australian modernist photographer.-Early life:Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography He later joined the Photographic Society of NSW, and when he left school, he worked for Cecil Bostock in Sydney.-Early...
External links
- Shades of Light (Australian Photography 1839 - 1988) the online version of the original Shades of Light published 1998, Gael Newton, National Gallery of Australia.
- http://www.photo-web.com.au/AustPictorial/default.htm the online version of Gael Newton's "Australian pictorial photography : a survey of art photography from 1898 to 1938 organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney" Sydney : Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1979.