Natoinal Library of Australia - Gateways

PictureAustralia–New Picture Trails

With over one million images available on PictureAustralia, it might be difficult to know where to start your search. By browsing the picture trails, users can view some of the highlights from the collections of the participating agencies on themes such as architecture, Australian ballet and multicultural Australia. When you click on a trail, a selection of images relating to that theme will be displayed.

PictureAustralia has released two new picture trails highlighting Australian fashion and political cartoons.

The fashion trail
This illustrates Australian style through history: casual and evening wear, wedding attire, sportswear, uniforms, cosmetics and jewellery, shoes, hairstyles alongside portraits of influential Australian designers.

A black & white photograph of a 'Portrait of Marjory Bryson as a Little Girl, Queensland c.1905'. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland A black & white of an 'Unidentified Model Wearing a Hat in a Fashion Advertisement for Myer  1947' by Wolfgrang Sievers. National Library of Australia A photograph of a 'Dandy Man Posing with Folded Umbrella (possibly a Department of Mines employee)'. William H. Ferguson Collection, Museum Victoria
Portrait of Marjory Bryson as a Little Girl, Queensland  c.1905
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Wolfgang Sievers (1913–)
Unidentified Model Wearing a Hat in a Fashion Advertisement for Myer  1947
National Library of Australia
Dandy Man Posing with Folded Umbrella (possibly a Department of Mines employee)
William H. Ferguson Collection, Museum Victoria

The images trace the changes in fashion, for men, women and children over the decades. They include nineteenth-century crinoline gowns, confined corsets, 1920s flapper dresses, women in uniform during World War 2, glamorous debutantes, society weddings and modern day images of punk hairdressers and Australian astronauts. There are dapper gentlemen in Victorian-era suits and examples of early swimming trunks as well as the ubiquitous men’s hats of the early twentieth century.

A number of portraits of Australian designers are available, including images of Trent Nathan, Prue Acton and Akira Isogawa—the last pictured backstage at Australian Fashion Week in 1998.

Browse the fashion trail, link: <http://www.pictureaustralia.org/trails_society.html>, to see how changes in society have both reflected and shaped fashion for Australian men, women and children.

Political cartoons trail
A federal election campaign is underway and PictureAustralia has brought together a collection of political cartoons showing the lighter side of Australian politics, and the poignancy of international issues and warfare. Browse the political cartoons trail and find caricatures of contemporary politicians and issues as well as cartoons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries poking fun at British colonial administrators, military leaders and public servants. There is an image of Governor Bligh being arrested by soldiers whilst hiding under his bed and a cartoon depicting Australian fears of a Russian invasion in Queensland in 1885.

A colour picture of 'Cousin Thomas or, The Swan River Job' by an artist unknown. Ref. no. A095-052, Alexander Tumball Library, National Library of New Zealand
Left;
Artist unknown
Cousin Thomas or, The Swan River Job
London; T. McLean, 1829
Thomas Peel, of the Swan River emigration scheme, cousin of Robert Peel, is shown plucking a swan to feather his nest.
Ref. No. A-096-052, Alexander Turnball Library, National Library of New Zealand
A cartoon of [Uncle Sam, with John Howard on His Shoulder, Arm Wrestling Kofi Annan over a Globe of the World]  2002 by Alan Moir. National Library of Australia
Alan Moir (1945–)
[Uncle Sam, with John Howard on His Shoulder, Arm Wrestling Kofi Annan over a Globe of the World]  2002
National Library of Australia

Cartoons of various wars include caricatures of Australian soldiers fleeing from Egyptian salesmen during World War 1 and a powerful drawing of a family surveying a pile of shoes belonging to Holocaust victims.

Some of the contemporary cartoonists whose work is represented include Alan Moir from the Sydney Morning Herald, Geoff Pryor from the Canberra Times, Stewart McCrae of the Courier Mail, George Molnar and Patrick Cook.

Browse the political cartoons trail, link: <http://www.pictureaustralia.org/trails_politicsgovt.html>, and enjoy.

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