The Mechanical Eye In Australia: Photography 1841-1900
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: Reprint
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Long before the age of digital imagery, a generation of pioneering photographers hauled their cumbersome equipment across the vast and untamed Australian continent, capturing a world that would otherwise have been lost to time. The Mechanical Eye in Australia: Photography 1841-1900 chronicles six transformative decades of photographic history in Australia, presenting a richly detailed visual and historical record of the nation's people, landscapes, and emerging colonial society during the nineteenth century — from the earliest daguerreotypes of 1841 through to the cusp of Federation. Alan Davies and Peter Stanbury bring scholarly rigour and genuine passion to this landmark work, drawing on extensive archival research to uncover the stories behind both the photographers and their subjects. The authors illustrate how the camera, far from being a neutral observer, was itself an instrument of colonial vision — shaping how Australia saw itself and how it was seen by the world. With meticulous attention to the social and cultural currents of the era, this volume stands as an essential reference for anyone captivated by the intersection of art, technology, and history — and raises the compelling question of what else the mechanical eye may have chosen not to see.
Author: Alan Davies & Peter Stanbury
Format: Hardback
Published: 1986, Oxford University Press (Melbourne, Oxford, New York, Auckland)
Genre: Photography
Edition: Reprint
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Very good
Pages: Good
Long before the age of digital imagery, a generation of pioneering photographers hauled their cumbersome equipment across the vast and untamed Australian continent, capturing a world that would otherwise have been lost to time. The Mechanical Eye in Australia: Photography 1841-1900 chronicles six transformative decades of photographic history in Australia, presenting a richly detailed visual and historical record of the nation's people, landscapes, and emerging colonial society during the nineteenth century — from the earliest daguerreotypes of 1841 through to the cusp of Federation. Alan Davies and Peter Stanbury bring scholarly rigour and genuine passion to this landmark work, drawing on extensive archival research to uncover the stories behind both the photographers and their subjects. The authors illustrate how the camera, far from being a neutral observer, was itself an instrument of colonial vision — shaping how Australia saw itself and how it was seen by the world. With meticulous attention to the social and cultural currents of the era, this volume stands as an essential reference for anyone captivated by the intersection of art, technology, and history — and raises the compelling question of what else the mechanical eye may have chosen not to see.