The camera

by National Library of Australia Commons

Since its invention, the camera has increased the ability of people to document their lives and surroundings. Here the lens is reflected back on a range of historical models, from cumbersome plate cameras through to their portable film counterparts.

16 photos · 503 views

Members of De Salis family with camera at Cuppacumbalong, circa 1886?

Photographer with camera on tripod outside his hut above tram left hand branch, Walhalla, Victoria, circa 1896

Miss M. D., Mrs P., Miss N.D., Mrs W., with cameras, at Powers' picnic, Middle Harbour, Sydney, 10 December 1902

Taking hold of the camera at the South Pole, 14th December, 1911

Carl Schiesser holding his camera, Brisbane, approximately 1916

Unidentified woman setting up a tripod in the Grampians, Victoria, 1918

Man on top of snow covered mountain with a camera, Victoria, approximately 1920 / Robert Wilkinson

Man in suit holding a camera on wharf, Point Pirie, South Australia, ca. 1920 / Samuel Ware

One of the expedition team, nicknamed Elusive, filming the surrounding sand dunes, Western Australia, 1925 / Michael Terry

Thomas Stephenson with apparatus for photographing corals, Low Islands, Queensland, circa 1928 / C.M. Yonge

Man with a camera mounted on the front of a train, Queensland, circa 1930

Captain Frank Hurley with a camera on board the Discovery, circa 1931 / Frank Hurley

Charles Ulm with camera, England, 1933 / London News Agency Photos Ltd

Eagle IV aircraft camera as used by E.W. Searle, Camden, New South Wales, circa 1938

Movietone news field staff Sydney, 1938

[Six smiling women in nurses' uniforms, each with a camera] [Frank Hurley]