As part of my PhD research and in association with Collecting the West: How Collections Create Western Australia (University of Western Australia and Deakin University, ARC LP160100078) I have been tracing the first collections of photographs in Western Australia's state collecting institutions (WA Museum, Art Gallery of WA, State Library of WA, and State Record Office of WA).
This article, published in the Journal of the History of Collections, presents evidence for the composition of the 'foundational' photograph collections of Western Australia and their use, and places them in a global context of scientific exchange and Empire. This collection had strong ties to British collecting institutions and scientific communities, for example, through the Director and Curator of the institution, Bernard Woodward, nephew of Dr Henry Woodward, Keeper of Geology at the British Museum.
My investigation of these collections and the paths they may have taken across global networks of exchange is ongoing. If anyone knows of correspondence or collection items that may relate Western Australia's early photograph collections, please do get in touch.
Rebecca Repper, Foundational photographs: Photograph collecting in Western Australia’s early Museum and Art Gallery, Journal of the History of Collections, 2021;, fhab027, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhab027
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