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 Cazneauxs
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 Cazneauxs career with interest since 1909. As editor (along
with Bertram Stevens) of Art in Australia, Ure Smith had already begun
to publish Cazneauxs 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 Cazneauxs light-filled portrait, The Bamboo Blind (1915), an image that exquisitely united his photographic and darkroom
skills.
Cazneauxs work for The
Home was extensive and diverse. He photographed "at home" many of
Sydneys 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 Smiths
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: Australias Federal Capital (1928).
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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 |
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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 |
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