The Home

"Sydney Ure Smith who founded Art in Australia and The Home was a real friend of the artist and the camera. He recognised that an art did exist in the production of a photograph".
 
Harold Cazneaux, letter to Jack Cato, 1 February 1951
NLA MS 5416

Although it was unusual at the time to work from home, Cazneaux was richly rewarded by the move to Ambleside. Profession and passion could now merge and Cazneaux’s business was soon doing a brisk trade. Although stylish portraits and wedding photos filled his "professional" working day, Cazneaux was free to explore light, shadow, texture and tones in his private moments. The Ambleside garden became an extension of his studio. Even his printed advertisements linked a natural, light-filled environment with photography:

"The charm of successful portraiture is realised when you are taken in the natural surroundings of your home and garden".

Sydney Ure Smith had been following Cazneaux’s career with interest since 1909. As editor (along with Bertram Stevens) of Art in Australia, Ure Smith had already begun to publish Cazneaux’s photographs.

In 1919, he decided to launch a new monthly magazine called The Home and Ure Smith invited Cazneaux to become official magazine photographer. The first issue of The Home featured Cazneaux’s light-filled portrait, The Bamboo Blind (1915), an image that exquisitely united his photographic and darkroom skills.

Cazneaux’s work for The Home was extensive and diverse. He photographed "at home" many of Sydney’s social elite, their gardens and their way of life. He photographed artists, models and actors as well as the city itself. Martin Place (1925) and Mail Time GPO (c.1932) depicts Sydney as a dynamic city enjoying that "long weekend" between the wars. While Cazneaux struggled with some of the society portrait commissions, he had now reached a period in his life where his artistic nature and paid photographic assignments were complementary. Cazneaux flourished in this new-found freedom.

One of the most successful portait series that Cazneaux photographed was commissioned by The Home. Called "New Idea" portraits, they combined painterly and photographic skills. Contemporary Australian artists such as Adrian Feint, Roy de Maistre and George Lambert painted the backdrops where The Home models were placed and photographed by Cazneaux. The series was particularly striking and cause much comment.

Cazneaux and Ure Smith’s professional relationship extended well beyond The Home magazine. With new co-editor Leon Gellert, Art in Australia thrived throughout the twenties and thirties. Many of their other special publications featured Cazneaux photographs, including the titles Sydney Surfing (1929), The Sydney Bridge Book (1930), The Australian Native Bear Book (1932) and Canberra: Australia’s Federal Capital (1928).

The Bamboo Blind Pergola Pattern
The Bamboo Blind aka The Japanese Blind
1915 Sydney. Gelatin silver photograph
26.3 x 21 (NLA Accession # C16/8)
nla.pic-an2383810-2
Pergola Pattern
1931 Sydney. Gelatin silver photograph
28.7 x 20.7 (NLA Accession # C19-11)
nla.pic-an2383896
The Black Shawl Sisters
The Black Shawl
c. 1931 Sydney. Chloro-bromide
33.8 x 24.2 (NLA Accession # C19-8)
nla.pic-an2383891-1
Sisters
1906 Sydney. Chloro-bromide
30.3 x 32.6 (NLA Accession # C19-11)
nla.pic-an2231699-1

I Sydney Skyline I Steam & Sunshine I Sydney, Old & New I
I
Spirit of Endurance I Frensham I The Home I
I
The Wheel of Youth I The Cazneaux Family of Photographers I

I The Catalogue I Exhibition Home Page I

Return to NLA Home Page
Last updated 16 December 2002