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A People's History

In a New Light includes photographs of men and women whose names and contributions to Australia are well known, and whose images were widely circulated—among them the formidable looking Premier of New South Wales Henry Parkes, and opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, surely one of the first superstars. Another subject, Sydney dentist Mr W.E. Hart, was the first Australian to be granted a pilot’s licence.

Other individuals gained their reputation by less glamorous means. Mr Jennings, for example, was reputed to be the fattest man in the colony of New South Wales in 1885 and was the subject of much curiosity.

The exhibition also deals with aspects of workers’ history and dissent, with images of marches, strikes and also of the impoverished living conditions experienced by some Australians, especially those in rural areas.

 

Introduction
1860s and 1870s
A love of order
Panoramas
Photography & war
Communities
A people's history