William Henry Corkhill clearly had a self-appointed mission in
life—to photograph all the residents of the small town of
Tilba Tilba in southern New South Wales. Over a 20-year period he
made nearly 900 portraits of his own community, the glass plate
negatives for which were eventually donated to the National Library.
What distinguishes Corkhill’s images is their intensity. His
subjects address him as one of their own; they approach the occasion
of being photographed with full solemnity and, in return, are depicted
with great dignity.
Corkhill’s project was not as unusual as one might expect.
Similarly ambitious projects were undertaken in Tumut by R.C. Strangman,
and in Gundagai by Dr. C.L Gabriel, a doctor and a keen amateur
Photographer of scenes at the Gundagai hospital and in the township.
His photographs of patients become disturbing when seen in a public
context: made for medical purposes, they are clinically detached.