Show Man: The Photography of Frank Hurley

SHOW
the photography o f Frank Hurley
MAN
Julian Thomas
National Library of Australia 1990
'In the Potters' Shop at Hebron', c. 1946 (28.3 x 38.5cm)
SHOW
the photography of Frank Hurley
MAN
Julian T h o m a s
National Library o f Australia 1990
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Cover: Frank Hurley, c. 1 9 3 0 , Toni M o o y Collection
©
National Library o f Australia 1990
T h o m a s , Julian, 1963 Showman : the photography of Frank Hurley.
I S B N 0 6 4 2 1 0 5 0 9 X.
1. Hurley, Frank, 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 6 2 . 2 . Photographers —
Australia — Biography. 2 . Photography — Australia. I.
National Library o f Australia. II. Title.
770.92
Designed by Christian Preuschl von Haldenburg
Printed by Goanna Print Canberra
Preface
THE p h o t o g r a p h e r F r a n k H u r l e y
(1885-1962)
is a l e g e n d a r y figure in
Australian cultural history; here I interpret the legend as part o f the history.
It is an account o f Hurley's ' s h o w m a n s h i p ' , that is, his professional sense o f
performance and display, and s o m e links which can be m a d e between that
s h o w m a n s h i p a n d wider histories. I h o p e it s u g g e s t s s o m e general ideas
a b o u t the significance o f H u r l e y ' s w o r k a n d career. M y interpretation is
possibly m o r e critical than those biographical accounts which have appeared
so far, and I have refrained from repeating well-known tales o f heroism and
adventure. Previous writers on Hurley have helped m e a great deal, and two
b o o k s in particular: D a v i d P. Millar's From Snowdrift to Shellfire (Sydney
1 9 8 4 ) a n d F r a n k L e g g a n d T o n i H u r l e y ' s Once More On My
Adventure
(Sydney 1 9 6 6 ) .
M u c h o f t h e r e s e a r c h for t h e e s s a y w h i c h f o l l o w s , a n d for t h e
S h o w m a n exhibition, was d o n e while I was a H a r o l d White Fellow at the
National Library of Australia.
I w i s h t o t h a n k the L i b r a r y for the
opportunity to work on its large collections o f Frank Hurley's p h o t o g r a p h s ,
diaries, b o o k s a n d m a n u s c r i p t s . I a m m u c h i n d e b t e d to the m a n y staff
m e m b e r s w h o have helped m e with particular tasks and inquiries. S o m e o f
the ideas presented here were first aired at a public lecture organised by the
Library in M a y 1 9 9 0 ; m y thanks also to those w h o m a d e c o m m e n t s and
asked questions o n that o c c a s i o n . T h e National Film and S o u n d Archive,
C i n e s o u n d / M o v i e t o n e , Filmworld Pty L t d , and the Rank Organisation have
also assisted in my work.
iii
From Argonauts o f the South, 1925
The Showman as Hero
H e was a d e t e r m i n e d a n d i n d o m i t a b l e Peter P a n , s e e i n g a d v e n t u r e everywhere
a n d in e v e r y t h i n g , a n d a d d i n g a personal flourish t o every reality. ' C a p p y ' was
wholly a s h o w m a n w h o w o r k e d hard at b e i n g Frank Hurley, explorer, c a m e r a
m a n , and intrepid adventurer, t o w h o m the w h o l e world was a c h a l l e n g e .
Maslyn Williams, 1 9 6 6
THE w o r d ' s h o w m a n ' was frequently used in the early decades o f Australian
cinema. Although it referred generally to a m a n ' s professional work in the
industry — w o m e n were usually ' s h o w g i r l s ' — it implied m o r e than an
occupation. It attributed style and adventure to the person himself, and it
suggested
a t a l e n t for
performance,
for
enthusiastic,
dubious
and
entertaining self-promotion. T h e s h o w m a n was part o f the show.
Frank Hurley was a dedicated photographer, a popular writer, a serious
b u s i n e s s m a n and a successful s h o w m a n . H e w o r k e d energetically a n d he
travelled widely. His b o o k s and films were a b o u t travel, war and adventure.
This work is now generally regarded as ' d o c u m e n t a r y ' , but it is important to
recognise its element o f showmanship: as a p h o t o g r a p h e r and writer he was
m o s t i n t e r e s t e d in a dramatically telling i m a g e or story, and he had n o
qualms a b o u t altering his materials to heighten their effect.
H i s own n u m e r o u s accounts o f his experiences in Antarctica, P a p u a ,
E u r o p e , the M i d d l e East and Australia have been retold many times. T h e
story, thus repeated, is a s h o w m a n ' s story. It is an adventure serial, starting
simply and following its protagonist through exotic locations. In 1 8 9 8 the
thirteen-year-old hero threw two inkwells at a teacher. 'An inkwell launched
m e into adventure,' he declared in Argonauts of the South, his b o o k a b o u t
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the M a w s o n and Shackleton expeditions to Antarctica. H e describes how he
ran away from h o m e in Sydney and found a job in a L i t h g o w foundry. While
t h e r e he b e c a m e i n t e r e s t e d in p h o t o g r a p h y , a n d his father, a r e t i r e d
c o m p o s i t o r , helped him join a Sydney postcard business. Back in the city, he
g a i n e d a reputation for u n u s u a l , dramatic pictures: his favourite subjects
were o n c o m i n g trains and waves crashing against cliffs. T h e risks involved in
t a k i n g t h e m g a v e the p h o t o g r a p h s an e d g e o f e x c i t e m e n t , b u t he was
looking for m o r e substantial adventure. H i s chance c a m e when he persuaded
Douglas
M a w s o n t o e m p l o y h i m as
photographer
on the
1911-13
Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
F r o m t h a t p o i n t he w a s always m o b i l e . T h e film he m a d e a b o u t
M a w s o n ' s expedition was a great success. O n the strength o f that, Ernest
S h a c k l e t o n a p p o i n t e d h i m p h o t o g r a p h e r o n the u n s u c c e s s f u l
1914-16
I m p e r i a l T r a n s - A n t a r c t i c E x p e d i t i o n . In 1 9 1 7 he was m a d e the official
Australian war photographer, working in Flanders and Palestine. In E g y p t
he married Antoinette Thierault; in 1 9 1 8 they returned to Australia, where
he b e g a n exhibiting his Antarctic and war photography, and she had twin
daughters. H e travelled to P a p u a three times in the 1 9 2 0 s , making several
p o p u l a r d o c u m e n t a r y a n d f i c t i o n films. In this p e r i o d he a l s o m a d e
successful tours o f Britain and the U n i t e d States. Between 1 9 2 9 and 1 9 3 1
he m a d e two final expeditions with M a w s o n to Antarctica. H e worked for
the Australian film s t u d i o C i n e s o u n d in the thirties, a n d w a s an official
p h o t o g r a p h e r once m o r e during the S e c o n d World War, again based in the
M i d d l e East. H e c a m e back to Australia in 1 9 4 6 , a g e d sixty-one, and b e g a n
a series o f l o n g car journeys, preparing b o o k s on Australian subjects.
In seventy-six years o f restless life Hurley travelled a million miles in
every continent o f the w o r l d ' says the blurb o f the earliest Hurley biography,
published four years after his death in 1 9 6 2 . Once More On My Adventure
g o e s on:
H e filmed pearl divers o f f T h u r s d a y I s l a n d , h e a d h u n t e r s o n the u n e x p l o r e d Fly
River in N e w G u i n e a , whalers in the S o u t h e r n O c e a n . H e shared a tent with
S h a c k l e t o n in the A n t a r c t i c a n d the tiny c o c k p i t o f R o s s a n d Keith S m i t h ' s
a e r o p l a n e d u r i n g their p i o n e e r flight from L o n d o n t o Sydney. H e c r a s h e d his
o w n aircraft at A t h e n s in an a t t e m p t t o fly the first land p l a n e from Australia t o
E n g l a n d . H e established a d a y ' s r e c o r d for p o l a r s l e d g i n g that still s t a n d s . In
N e w York he w r o t e a bestseller in ten d a y s . In T o b r u k he s h o t a s c o o p film o f
the s i e g e . In C a i r o he had the only holiday of his life — his h o n e y m o o n .
He
was frost-bitten a n d s n o w - b l i n d e d , nearly taken prisoner by the T u r k s , arrested
by Persians, s n i p e d by a G e r m a n , a l m o s t b a n q u e t t e d t o d e a t h by A r a b sheiks,
-2
-
r e s c u e d from the inside o f a whale by N o r w e g i a n s , a n d in his m i d - s e v e n t i e s ,
h e l p e d by A u s t r a l i a n s u p a 300 f o o t r o p e c l i m b from a cave w h e r e h e h a d
suffered a heart attack while filming in a t e m p e r a t u r e o f 1 1 4 d e g r e e s .
T h e adventure serial leaves o u t m u c h , and includes s o m e things which
are not quite true. T h e Fly was not unexplored, despite Hurley's claims to
have b e e n the first white m a n t o visit p a r t s o f it. H e d i d n o t share the
cockpit o f the S m i t h s ' plane o n their flight from L o n d o n to Sydney: he
joined them in Queensland. H e did d o an e n o r m o u s a m o u n t o f travelling,
yet he also d i d significant w o r k in S y d n e y , s p e n d i n g e i g h t years at the
Australian film studio C i n e s o u n d . B u t the point is not to deny Hurley his
showmanship. Rather, I want to emphasise that this adventuring identity was
an act o f imagination, for b o t h Hurley and his audiences. It was — as all
biographies are — an edited version, a selection o f certain aspects o f his life
and a repudiation o f other parts.
H u r l e y ' s American publisher G e o r g e P u t n a m said a b o u t him, ' N o w
a n d t h e n there a p p e a r s o u t o f the c o n f u s i o n o f o u r c o m p l e x a n d noisy
civilisation a being seemingly strayed from s o m e m o r e romantic d a y . . . In an
a g e w h e n h u m a n effort s o largely t e n d s t o m a k e life a c o m m u n a l a n d
unindividualistic affair, the figure o f a m a n w h o desires solitude a n d the
experience o f p e n e t r a t i n g an u n k n o w n country, stands forth u n i q u e a n d
s o m e w h a t i n c o n g r u o u s . ' Putnam applauds Hurley's desire for solitude, his
robust individualism. B u t while this isolation was part o f Hurley's character,
as far as we — Hurley's audiences — are concerned, it is a carefully created
impression. It is hard to imagine Hurley really d o i n g all his work entirely
alone, since the things he wanted to d o almost always required assistance
from others. H e was not s o m e o n e separated from others; he lived with his
wife a n d f o u r c h i l d r e n in S y d n e y , a n d rarely by h i m s e l f w h e n he w a s
travelling. M o r e than this, his work always d e p e n d e d on others: his family at
h o m e , and the assistants, engineers and technicians w h o kept him g o i n g
when he was away.
T h e r e is n o d o u b t that he h a d , as P u t n a m s u g g e s t s , a ' d e s i r e for
solitude'. H i s daughters regarded him as 'anti-social'. O n e o f them t h o u g h t
he s h o u l d never have m a r r i e d . H i s wife, A n t o i n e t t e , t h o u g h t he was a
'loner'. What he wanted was solitude, and what the s h o w m a n ' s figure o f the
adventurer required was an extreme individualism, a total separation from
'complex and noisy civilisation'. In his diaries there is a revealing treatment
o f those liminal m o m e n t s when this separation is effected. Hurley crossed
out in pencil his description o f leaving Sydney for Papua in 1 9 2 0 :
- 3 -
T h e crossed out words read: ' M y deep regrets are for leaving T h e wife & my two little ones
w h o n o w are arriving at that interesting & lovable age o f toddling & articulating & o f both
together. Still, 1 2 years ground work o f making a reputation for travel pictures cannot be
thrust aside especially as this venture is likely to recoup me for all my years o f adventure &
toil.'
Presumably these lines were crossed out when he was editing the
diaries for the Pearls and Savages book, the best-seller he wrote in New York
in ten days. Later there is a sentence describing 'The wife and little ones
a n d my old friends Alison a n d [ i n d e c i p h e r a b l e ] waiting until we had
passed beyond their vision'. T h e words printed in bold here were crossed out
by H u r l e y , so that the e d i t e d s e n t e n c e r e f e r r e d only t o ' m y friends
waiting...'.
T h e showman imagined this adventurous identity, and, as Maslyn
Williams said, he worked hard to publicise it. T h e figure o f the adventurer
was not simply a ploy which Hurley used to attract people to his work, since
it was a central part o f that work. N o r did showmanship end there: an
adventure story required an adventurous world, a world which was strange
and dangerous. If, as Putnam's masculine remark implied, heroism consisted
in 'penetrating an unknown country', then the way o f the adventurer had to
be shown as difficult and obstructed. Hurley's books and pictures make
- 4 -
motifs out of the difficulties of travelling.
On the Mawson expedition to Antarctica
he wanted to show the severity of
the climate, so he photographed
people leaning apparently impossibly
forward into high winds. The image was
used on the cover of Mawson's book
about the expedition, The Home of the
Blizzard.
In Papua, in his pictures o f the jungle, Hurley found another way o f
representing the obstructiveness of the exotic. The photograph from Pearls
and Savages which is r e p r o d u c e d here is characteristic of his Papuan
photography in its simple contrast between the resistant thickness o f the
vegetation and the open water o f the river.
Hand
coloured lantern
slide from
the Pearls and Savages series, c. 1923 (8 x 10cm)
- 5 -
The title slide from Hurley's Pearls and Savages set o f lantern slides
locates the white hero among a mysterious concentration o f exotic figures.
The slide emphasises its authorship, through the prominence o f the words
'Capt. Frank Hurley's', and the vulnerability o f its author, through the
threatening figure on the right o f the main title, who is aiming an arrow at
Hurley. It is an excellent example o f Hurley's showmanship, partly because it
is so clearly the darkroom composition o f a virtuoso, skilfully combining and
arranging dramatic elements. It also shows how Hurley's sense o f drama
worked to create an impression o f himself, the brave adventurer. Moreover,
the composition of this image suggests a rationale for this showmanship.
Hurley composed the image in a way which he thought would appeal to his
Western audience. A successful travelogue had to be adventurous, and
adventure was to be found in exotic parts o f the world. Such places were
exciting because they were dangerous; therefore the heroes had to be brave.
Exotic places were also, o f course, unknown places; therefore the heroes had
to be explorers.
Hand
coloured
lantern
slide, c. 1923 (8 x 10cm)
- 6 -
Clouds and Colonies
A S a s u p p o s e d l y solitary adventurer, revealing the secrets o f the u n k n o w n
while remaining enigmatic, H u r l e y ' s public persona c o n f o r m e d to popular
heroic convention. T h e point can be m a d e m o r e strongly: his specific sense
o f what adventure was, of what the exotic was a n d where it could be found,
was widely shared in Australia a n d the West. It coincided with a general
sense o f imperial adventure. Hurley spent a lifetime looking for adventure:
the result was a career directly shaped by the dynamics o f twentieth-century
imperialism. H i s w o r k was carried a l o n g o n global currents o f colonialism
and war.
From this p r e m i s e an a l t e r n a t i v e a c c o u n t o f his travels m i g h t b e
developed. Hurley's trips to Antarctica were m a d e possible by a combination
o f imperial rivalry, scientific interest and the h u g e popularity and profitability
o f Antarctic photography. Shackleton's ambitious and expensive plan to cross
the Antarctic continent was motivated by his patriotic desire for Britain to be
'first'; later, M a w s o n ' s 1929-31 expeditions claimed Australian sovereignty
over a large p o r t i o n o f the continent. Hurley's visits to P a p u a , which were
f u n d e d in p a r t by t h e B r i t i s h film i n d u s t r y a n d t h e A n g l i c a n B o a r d o f
M i s s i o n s , w e r e e n g a g e m e n t s with the u n k n o w n — the p e o p l e he called
savages — and the Australian colonial administration. H i s relations with the
colonisers and the colonised were often difficult: in 1 9 2 3 , for example, his
m e t h o d s o f collecting artefacts were the subject o f an official inquiry, m u c h
to his a n n o y a n c e . H e p r e s e n t e d colonial conflicts melodramatically in his
1 9 2 6 feature The Jungle Woman.
- 7 -
T h e Jungle W o m a n , 1926; production
still (whole
plate)
Hurley went to Europe and the Middle East to photograph a world
war which was the inevitable result o f imperialism. He returned for the
Second World War, and spent time subsequently in the Middle East, making
films for the British Government, which had become the dominant foreign
power in the region. While Hurley made dozens o f newsreel items and short
films showing how the Arab world had progressed under British influence,
the British G o v e r n m e n t ' s League of Nations Mandate in Palestine was
collapsing. Hurley found himself in a complex and violent political situation,
where two emerging and conflicting forces, anti-colonial Arab nationalism
and Zionist settlement, were opposed to British administration.
His work in Australia, which he took up again when he returned in
1946, c o u l d also be i n t e r p r e t e d as a form of c o l o n i a l , o r i m p e r i a l ,
photography. Hurley believed Australia was the 'best country in the world'.
His work emphasised the 'romance' and achievements o f white settlement,
and Australia's place in the Empire. In his view, Australia was an outstanding
example o f successful colonisation. Hard work, ingenuity, and the vision o f a
- 8 -
few founding heroes had transformed Australia from 'a trackless wilderness'
into a thriving, m o d e r n nation. Hurley's Australian work celebrated
picturesque landscapes, industrial and agricultural productivity, and clean,
prosperous cities.
Clearly an a c c o u n t o f H u r l e y ' s career which saw him as a colonial
p h o t o g r a p h e r w o u l d emphasise different parts o f his life from the ones which
m o s t a p p e a l e d t o the s h o w m a n himself. It w o u l d a d d r e s s s o m e o f t h e
problems he faced in his career, where his progress really was blocked, rather
than the triumphant achievements which have been written a b o u t so often.
This is the line o f inquiry pursued here, although there is not e n o u g h space
to deal with the full range o f Hurley's imperial and colonial entanglements.
A few instances can be examined which will show how, in a n u m b e r o f ways,
his showmanship contributed to these difficulties.
C o n c e r n i n g his experiences in Papua, it was apparently Hurley's desire
for spectacle which created the circumstances o f his dispute with the colonial
administration. T h e p o p u l a r success o f the P a p u a n material d e p e n d e d on
Hurley convincing his audiences and readers that these films, p h o t o g r a p h s
and the b o o k really did describe an exotic, u n k n o w n location. H e had to d o
this in the U n i t e d States where, as he later complained, 'cannibal stories were
hackneyed'. S o he claimed for his work an extra d e g r e e o f realism: his feature
The Jungle Woman was sold on the basis o f its authentic location, and his
b o o k and d o c u m e n t a r y film Pearls and Savages presented themselves as the
results o f a scientific study o f the area rather than a mere journey through it.
H e s u g g e s t e d that his observations and ideas were scientifically important,
despite the fact that he changed the emphasis and content o f his material as
he w e n t , r e s p o n d i n g to a u d i e n c e d e m a n d . T h u s in the U n i t e d S t a t e s he
changed the name o f Pearls and Savages to The Lost Tribe, and p r o p o s e d that
the people he had ' d i s c o v e r e d ' at Lake Murray were d e s c e n d e d from o n e o f
the 'lost tribes o f Israel'.
T h e scientific status o f his s e c o n d Papuan expedition in 1 9 2 2 - 2 3 was
particularly important to him. H e t o o k with him A l a n M c C u l l o c h , from the
Australian M u s e u m in Sydney, and arranged for F . E . Williams, the Assistant
G o v e r n m e n t A n t h r o p o l o g i s t , to join the party in Papua. As it turned o u t ,
W i l l i a m s s p e n t little t i m e w i t h t h e m . M c C u l l o c h a n d H u r l e y a p p l i e d
themselves to collecting what they called ' s p e c i m e n s ' for the M u s e u m . T h e s e
were artefacts o f various kinds: shields, spears, bull-roarers and skulls. At a
village o n Lake Murray, Hurley and M c C u l l o c h found no o n e around. They
went into a large c o m m u n a l house and found the villagers' b e l o n g i n g s in the
rafters.
- 9 -
' T h o u g h feeling c o m p u n c t i o n for o u r a c t i o n s , we r a n s a c k e d t h e m '
Hurley wrote in his b o o k Pearls and Savages. 'Skulls, h u m a n bits, and tit-bits
filled our b o n e - b a g ; whilst axes, knives and fabrics were substituted. Surely,
indeed, Father Christmas had visited the house! Iron and steel replaced b o n e
and s t o n e , and a million years were b r i d g e d in a day!' Pearls and Savages
claims that Hurley's enthusiasm was purely scientific:
F r o m a d i m alcove I g a v e a yell o f delight! We h a d d i s c o v e r e d treasures b e y o n d
b o n a n z a ! H u m a n h e a d s ! Stuffed h e a d s ! W h a t luck!
Skulls painted and d e c o r a t e d had grinned from every niche, but heads —
stuffed h e a d s ! G l o r i o u s b e y o n d w o r d s ! H a d w e r a i d e d a b a n k and carried o f f
the bullion we c o u l d scarcely have b e e n m o r e p l e a s e d than with such desirable
objects.
T h i s , o f c o u r s e , is scientifically s p e a k i n g , for I can scarcely c o n c e i v e a n y t h i n g s o
g r u e s o m e as these h i d e o u s h u m a n t r o p h i e s o f the
head-hunters...
W h a t s o r t o f p e o p l e c o u l d these b e that s o callously m a d e toys o f their victims?
Infinitely b a r b a r o u s , f e r o c i o u s , a n d c r u e l , w i t h n o f e e l i n g n o r t h o u g h t for
h u m a n a g o n y a n d suffering, a n d I s h u d d e r e d t o think o f the ghastly s c e n e s that
had taken place in the small clearing by the g l o o m y b a m b o o s .
R e p o r t s o f 'irregularities' reached the colonial administration, and the
collection was i m p o u n d e d in Port M o r e s b y while investigations were m a d e .
Hurley c o n d u c t e d a furious campaign in the Sydney press. 'HURLEY N O T
A P I R A T E ' ran o n e o f the Sun's headlines. H u r l e y ' s view was that the g o o d s
he had taken without permission b e l o n g e d in a m u s e u m , regardless o f the
interests o f their manufacturers and owners. Any s u g g e s t i o n o f impropriety
on his p a r t was an attack on his h o n o u r . In the e n d , the administration
allowed him to keep a l m o s t all o f the items he h a d taken. F . E . Williams
wrote a report a b o u t 'the collection o f curios', pointing o u t that the removal
o f g o o d s to m u s e u m s could not be justified as a useful, scientific or moral
action in itself. H e p r o p o s e d a paternalistic 'ethics o f collecting', directed at
the preservation o f indigenous culture. Hurley's frustration with the whole
affair was w e l l - e x p r e s s e d in his diary: ' S t r a n g e l y e n o u g h the Officials o f
Papua, with few exceptions, are so narrow m i n d e d as not to be able to see
nor appreciate b e y o n d the official "self-centredness" and short-sightedness
o f their mean c o n c e p t i o n s . ' H e went on:
10
T h e diary r e a d s : 'We are a c c u s e d with practically b e i n g p i r a t e s , c h a s i n g & terrifying
the
p e o p l e & r o b b i n g their villages! S u c h an a b s u r d & f a b u l o u s r u m o u r is a direct i m p u t a t i o n
against o u r h o n o u r & r e p u t a t i o n s . I a m heartily wild & d i s g u s t e d with the a m a z i n g excesses
t o which the A d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n d u l g e s itself in red t a p e d officialism & its e n d e a v o u r t o harass
all with w h o m it m a y have d e a l i n g s . It is absurdly j e a l o u s o f ' o u t s i d e r s ' t r e s p a s s i n g o n its
sacred territory & p r o s e c u t i n g original w o r k which the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n itself fails in d o i n g . I
have d i s c u s s e d the i g n o m i n i o u s p o s i t i o n in which M c C u l l o c h & m y s e l f have been p l a c e d &
we have d e c i d e d t o take up a dignified & hostile attitude t o the i m p u t a t i o n s o f which we are
supremely innocent.'
But Hurley was not supremely innocent. N o r was he innocent when he
claimed later, back, in Sydney, that he had ' d i s c o v e r e d ' previously unknown
parts o f Papua. Embarrassingly e n o u g h , Papua's Lieutenant-Governor,
H u b e r t Murray, wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald d e b u n k i n g the idea.
In P a p u a , Hurley's s h o w m a n s h i p w a s d i r e c t l y
entangled
with
colonialism. As an official p h o t o g r a p h e r in b o t h World Wars, his desire for
- 11 -
spectacle created quite different p r o b l e m s . Like many other p h o t o g r a p h e r s ,
Hurley was a c c u s t o m e d to c o m b i n i n g images from a n u m b e r o f negatives in
o n e finished picture. H e w o u l d often a d d , for e x a m p l e , a dramatic c l o u d
formation or a sunset to heighten the effect o f a landscape or a building.
This kind o f d a r k r o o m c o m p o s i t i o n was generally regarded as a legitimate
p h o t o g r a p h i c practice. I n d e e d , the ability to d o it well was a desirable skill.
O n the whole, Hurley did d o it well, and the result was often a romantic
p i c t u r e , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g his c u s t o m a r y b r i g h t , h a r d l i g h t a n d s t r o n g
c o n t r a s t s . H u r l e y ' s dramatically t h u n d e r o u s skies frequently s u g g e s t e d a
divine or transcendent presence.
When he b e g a n taking pictures on the Western Front he decided that
c o m p o s i t e pictures were necessary for the subject. H e found it impossible to
picture trench warfare in a single e x p o s u r e . H e wrote later in the
Australian
Photo-Review:
None
but those w h o have
enddeavoured
can realise the
insurmountable
difficulties o f p o r t r a y i n g a m o d e r n battle by the c a m e r a . To i n c l u d e the event
o n a s i n g l e n e g a t i v e , I h a v e tried a n d t r i e d , b u t t h e r e s u l t s a r e h o p e l e s s .
E v e r y t h i n g is o n s u c h a vast scale. F i g u r e s are s c a t t e r e d — the a t m o s p h e r e is
d e n s e with h a z e a n d s m o k e — shells will n o t b u r s t w h e r e r e q u i r e d — yet the
w h o l e e l e m e n t s o f a picture are there c o u l d they b u t b e b r o u g h t t o g e t h e r a n d
condensed.
Hurley was a r g u i n g that c o m p o s i t e i m a g e s c o u l d provide a truer i m a g e
o f what happened in m o d e r n battle. But C.E.W. B e a n , the official Australian
war correspondent, w o u l d not stand for any manipulation o f negatives. H e
t h o u g h t c o m p o s i t e pictures were 'fakes'. Bean was a meticulous collector o f
facts, and was later a p p o i n t e d official war historian. H e w a n t e d to k n o w
exactly what h a p p e n e d o n the front; H u r l e y w a n t e d t o p r e s e n t what he
t h o u g h t was a visually coherent i m a g e o f the war. T h e a r g u m e n t between
them c a m e to the p o i n t where H u r l e y c o n s i d e r e d r e s i g n i n g , b u t he was
finally allowed to make a small n u m b e r o f c o m p o s i t e i m a g e s . T h e effect o f
these was a visual condensation o f the battlefield; the prints were c r o w d e d
with heavy c l o u d s , p i e r c i n g rays o f s u n l i g h t , e x p l o d i n g s h e l l s , d i v i n g
aeroplanes, and soldiers g o i n g 'over the t o p ' .
In Once More On My Adventure, Frank L e g g and Toni Hurley assert
that Bean was right. A c c o r d i n g to them, the c o m p o s i t e pictures fail as realist
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s ; they m e a n little to soldiers w h o were at the F r o n t . B u t
B e a n ' s criterion for j u d g m e n t is not the only o n e : there are other ways o f
looking at these pictures. Following the critic B e r n d H u p p a u f , we can see
- 12 -
H u r l e y ' s war p h o t o g r a p h y as a p h o t o g r a p h e r ' s a t t e m p t to c o m e to terms
with material which p o s e d a real p r o b l e m . T h e p r o b l e m was simple: h o w was
it possible to p h o t o g r a p h a m o d e r n war, where events are t o o dispersed to
be seen from o n e field o f vision?
Hurley tried various alternatives. H e and his assistant often risked their
lives r o a m i n g around the trenches looking for action, but they could not get
the i m a g e s H u r l e y r e q u i r e d . Aerial p h o t o g r a p h y , which H u r l e y was
enthusiastic a b o u t , p r o d u c e d abstract images o f r o a d s , trenchlines and the
b r o k e n surfaces o f m u d d y battlefields. While these abstract i m a g e s were
useful for military p u r p o s e s , for him they conveyed n o sense o f what was
happening to soldiers on the g r o u n d . C o m p o s i t e i m a g e s were necessary for
that. C o m p o s i t e images created an artificial vantage point for the camera, an
eventful p e r s p e c t i v e w h i c h r e n d e r e d a c t i o n s i m u l t a n e o u s l y in the o n e
i m a g i n a r y place. S o m e t i m e s these events s e e m strangely j u x t a p o s e d . T h e
c o m b i n a t i o n o f a s c e n e o f d e a d or i n j u r e d s o l d i e r s a m o n g t h e r u i n e d
landscape o f the battlefield with a beautifully g l o w i n g , cloudy dawn probably
signified Hurley's sense o f fateful glory; n o w it appears inappropriate or at
the least over-dramatised. B u t the awkwardness o f the juxtaposition points
to H u r l e y ' s difficulty in reconciling on the o n e hand his romantic sense o f
pictorial beauty and his s h o w m a n s h i p , and on the other his horror o f the
Western Front.
In late 1 9 1 7 , H u r l e y j o i n e d the A u s t r a l i a n M o u n t e d D i v i s i o n s in
Palestine. Away from B e a n ' s supervision, he was free to c o m b i n e negatives as
he liked. T h e L i g h t H o r s e (as the Divisions were known) even helped him to
s t a g e p h o t o g r a p h s o f events which he h a d m i s s e d , or which h a d never
occurred. H e t o o k pictures for the record o f the L i g h t H o r s e in Jerusalem,
even t h o u g h they had not been involved in the capture o f that city. Hurley
o b s e r v e d in his diary that w i t h o u t the p r e s e n c e o f the L i g h t H o r s e the
Jerusalem pictures would have had n o military or public appeal.
T h e tension in Hurley's Western Front pictures is between a romantic
aesthetic and the new and terrible subject o f m o d e r n mass destruction. This
appears again in his 1 9 1 8 pictures o f Palestine. A picture o f G a z a shows the
L i g h t H o r s e assembled in the ruined city. T h e soldiers, with their horses and
their symmetry, seem to b e l o n g to another a g e ; they look as t h o u g h they are
on the point o f making a cavalry charge. T h e buildings behind them have
not been captured s o m u c h as completely destroyed. Another picture shows
two Australian troopers in the ruins o f a m o s q u e in G a z a , pointing at an
aeroplane. T h e picture is beautifully c o m p o s e d , and there is almost an air o f
13
gaiety a b o u t the soldiers. T h e y seem excited by the plane rather than
horrified at the devastation around them.
'The Morning
after the First Battle
of Passchendaele',
- 14-
1917 (54.2 x
49.2cm)
One o f the most disturbing aspects o f these war pictures is the
emptiness of the city depicted. The inhabitants have disappeared; that is all
we can intimate. When Hurley returned to Palestine in the 1940s, he was
m u c h m o r e i n t e r e s t e d in t a k i n g p i c t u r e s o f the p e o p l e t h e r e . H i s
photographs from this period document a society which was to be broken up
by the post-war dispensation. He had a new attitude to the Palestinians. In
1918 he had been a photographer in an invading army; in the forties he was
working mainly for the British Government, which held a League of Nations
mandate over the country. In the conflicts between the British, the Zionists,
and the Palestinians, Hurley's sympathies were firmly with the British. His
u n d e r s t a n d i n g was s i m p l e : Palestine o w e d its p r o g r e s s to a benign
administration. Beyond colonial loyalty, however, he was more sympathetic
with the aspirations of Palestinians than with Zionism. The 1946 attack on
the King David Hotel settled his view of the matter.
The Light Horse in Gaza,
Palestine,
- 15 -
1918 (49.2 x
49.8cm)
Gaza,
Palestine,
1918 (35 x
- 16-
26.3cm)
The Best Country in the World
HURLEY'S
a d v e n t u r e s in the M i d d l e E a s t , P a p u a a n d A n t a r c t i c a were
clearly b o u n d up in imperial politics. B u t the imperial element o f his work is
not the whole story. M o s t o f H u r l e y ' s imperial a d v e n t u r e s were also
Australian o n e s : M a w s o n ' s e x p e d i t i o n s to A n t a r c t i c a were o r g a n i s e d in
Australia; Hurley's wartime work was mainly with Australian forces; and in
Papua his quarrels were quarrels with an Australian colonial administration.
S o his mobility has to be seen as part o f a national mobility, which t o o k the
expansive forms o f colonisation in Papua, territorial annexation in Antarctica,
and war in E u r o p e and the M i d d l e East.
H u r l e y ' s travelling, then, c a n n o t be u n d e r s t o o d as d i m i n i s h i n g his
sense o f national identity. O n the contrary, he seems to have always been
intensely patriotic. H e believed Australia was a land o f p r o g r e s s , with a
p r o s p e r o u s , s e c u r e f u t u r e . H e i n v o l v e d h i m s e l f in the e l a b o r a t e S t a t e
anniversaries o f the 1 9 3 0 s , making films for the S o u t h Australian centenary
in 1 9 3 6 and for the 150th anniversary o f Captain Arthur Phillip's landing in
1 9 3 8 . T h e 1 9 3 8 film, A Nation is Built, proclaimed his confidence:
A c l i m a t e w i t h o u t peer, f a b u l o u s natural r e s o u r c e s , u n s u r p a s s e d scenery a n d
limitless s p o r t i n g facilities c o m b i n e to m a k e Australia the natural setting for the
new A n g l o - S a x o n E m p i r e u n d e r the S o u t h e r n Cross.
T h e film c e l e b r a t e d white s e t t l e m e n t and e l a b o r a t e d on a national
destiny provided by G o d . ' T h e bounty o f the earth impels us to look to the
g o o d will in the heavens and to say "We thank T h e e . ' " Hurley p r o d u c e d a
very l a r g e b o d y o f w o r k a b o u t A u s t r a l i a : d o c u m e n t a r i e s , f e a t u r e film
c i n e m a t o g r a p h y , n u m e r o u s b o o k s , calendars and p o s t c a r d s . H i s Camera
Study b o o k s , which he began on his return from the M i d d l e East in 1 9 4 6 ,
t o o k up the theme again. A picture in Australia: A Camera Study s h o w e d
' S t r a w b e r r y t i m e on a " N e w A u s t r a l i a n " s e t t l e r ' s farm n e a r B r i s b a n e .
Originally from G r e e c e , the owner has worked hard and considers Australia
the best country in the world'.
17
T h e Camera Study b o o k s , like the earlier films, concentrated on two
aspects o f Australia: its natural beauty and its industrial productivity. Hurley's
aesthetic was perfectly suited to the task. Wheat fields, waterfalls and beaches
all l o o k e d g o o d in bright sunshine, and a picturesque sky c o m p l e t e d them.
T h e r e was very little o f the tension between c o m p o s i t i o n and subject matter
that appeared in his wartime photography. G o o d will was represented in the
heavens; energetic activity on the g r o u n d . T h e r e were certain i m a g e s that
H u r l e y u s e d to express this h a r m o n i o u s relationship again a n d again: the
mass o f sheep a m b l i n g t h r o u g h trees was o n e favourite s c e n e , as was the
wheat harvest in a wide, bright, shallow valley. T h e countenance divine shone
forth u p o n those c l o u d e d hills.
The
Warrumbungle
picture
Mountains,
New South Wales, c. 1950 (38.1 x 50.2cm).
in Australia: A C a m e r a S t u d y (1955)
- 18 -
to illustrate
'The Wool
Hurley used this
Industry'.
Further Reading
Donald Denoon,
' T h e Isolation o f Australian
H i s t o r y ' , Historical
Studies,
October, 1 9 8 6
Ross Gibson (ed),
The South Pacific, a special issue o f
Photofile, Spring 1 9 8 8
Bernd H u p p a u f ,
' M o d e r n i s m and the Photographic
R e c o r d o f War and D e s t r u c t i o n ' , in
L . D e v e r e a u x and R. Hillman ( e d s ) ,
The Photographic
Image
(forthcoming)
Frank Hurley,
Argonauts of the South, N e w York,
1925
Australia: A Camera
Sydney, 1 9 5 5
Study,
The Holy City, Sydney, 1 9 4 9
Pearls and Savages, N e w York, 1 9 2 4
Frank L e g g and Toni Hurley,
Once More On My Adventure,
Sydney, 1 9 6 6
Douglas Mawson,
The Home of the Blizzard,
1915
London,
David P. Millar,
Prom Snowdrift to Shellfire, Sydney,
1984
19