Steam & Sunshine

The onset of the Depression in the Thirties saw business slow down in Cazneaux’s studio. Then in 1934-35, Cazneaux received one of his most interesting and challenging commissions. BHP wanted him to photograph their steelworks at Newcastle, New South Wales and Whyalla, South Australia. Photographing the human figure against an industrial landscape was not new to Cazneaux. His photograph Knock Off Time (1925) is a thoughtful interpretation of man and machine.

With this BHP commission, Cazneaux was relishing the prospect of photographing the ever-present smoke and steam to great effect. He was sorely disappointed:

"They had the vast area of the Newcastle steelworks cleared out from top to bottom. The whole works were then ready to be taken … it was certainly spick and span … but much of the element I had hoped for had vanished".
 
Harold Cazneaux, letter to Jack Cato,
9 March 1951
NLA MS 5416

Undaunted Cazneaux "made do" and the results are striking. They were precursors to a modernist style that was soon to overshadow pictorial photography with their bold composition yet delicate tonal qualities.

Knock Off Time Pouring Steel, NSW
Knock Off Time aka Knocking Off
1925 Abermain & Seaham Coals, Cessnock, NSW.
Chloro-bromide
39 x 29.3 (NLA Accession # C14-2)
nla.pic-an2381183
Pouring Steel, NSW
1934 BHP Newcastle. Chloro-bromide
35 x 27.8 (NLA Accession # C14-9)
nla.pic-an2381200
Whyalla, South Australia aka A Mountain of Iron Newcastle Steel Works
Whyalla, South Australia aka A Mountain of Iron
1935. Bromoil
33.5 x 26.5 (NLA Accession # C14-4)
nla.pic-an2231642-1
Newcastle Steel Works
1934 BHP NSW. Bromoil
18.8 x 19.9 (NLA Accession # C14-6)
nla.pic-an2381195
Toil  
Toil
1935 Port Pirie, SA. Bromoil
28.8 x 33.5 (NLA Accession # C29-9)
nla.pic-an2384492-2
 

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

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Last updated 16 December 2002