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Australians embraced photography long before smartphone cameras enabled us to capture and curate every moment of our lives.听

A new exhibition of rarely seen images at the Chau Chak Wing Museum transports us to a time when costumes had to be captured in a studio, and when fictional photographs, posing models in a story or comic scene, were sold and bought for home entertainment.听

The Staged Photograph听presents images taken between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, by professional and amateur photographers, from Australia, Britain and the United States.

Exhibition curator Jan Brazier said: 鈥�The Staged Photograph听is a fascinating dive into an unfamiliar photographic history.听Its images are听a diverse and intriguing insight into the role staged photographs played in our lives and the popular culture of the time."

Costume balls were immensely popular from the 1830s. From the 1860s, families in their fancy dress costumes or special outfits could be听professionally photographed in a studio complete with听props and a painted background.听

鈥淭hese photos were private memories kept in frames or the family album, where undoubtedly many are still to be found,鈥� said Jan Brazier.听

Communities held balls to raise money for good causes and from 1900 they included the 鈥榩oster ball鈥� when businesses would pay fundraisers to have someone wear a costume festooned with advertisements for their products. These balls were as popular in high society as in country towns and suburbs. Costumes for Sunlight Soap, Silver Starch laundry powder,听Jelline jelly crystals and Silver Drop self-raising flour听can be seen in the exhibition.听听听

The 鈥榦nline鈥� experience of the 19th^听century, the stereograph used two nearly identical photographs to create a 3D image when seen through a viewer called a stereoscope. Originally a middle-class activity, with the family gathering in the parlour to enjoy the images, it became more affordable by the 1890s and the mass home entertainment of its time. Its transformation saw millions of stereographs in use worldwide.听

Views of exotic locations were by far the most popular stereographs for 鈥榓rmchair travelling鈥�, but commercial photographers also created fictional s颅颅颅颅颅颅颅颅cenes using actors and props to tell highly theatrical stories. Sentimental and comical scenes were big sellers.听听

Some of the most popular themes are still familiar 鈥� love, courtship, marriage, children and drunkenness 鈥� but others are of their time, taken from vaudeville jokes or the prejudices of the age. Both Irish servant women and African American plantation workers were held up to racist ridicule. One popular genre was college girls taking part in dormitory 鈥榣arks and pranks鈥�. Another was financial ruin from horse racing.听

鈥淭he visual humour revealed in these stereographs provides a way for us to understand and interrogate a previous era鈥檚 cultural and social values鈥�, said Jan Brazier.听

Home photography took off when smaller, more portable cameras became available, and the Kodak revolution arrived in the early 20^th听century. Amateur photographers captured special family moments using the backyard as a set.听Family members posed as if in a studio, with a suspended curtain on the washing line or a pot plant on a stand, often still capturing a special costume.听There was also a practical reason to work outdoors:better light.听

All photographs are drawn from the Macleay Collections of the Chau Chak Wing Museum.听These photographs are some of the more than 60,000 in the University鈥檚 social history photograph collection. The majority were donated and cover the mid-19th to 20th century.听

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 surprise me the Museum鈥檚 historical photographic exhibitions are so popular as people make a direct connection with our past ways of seeing ourselves. Anyone interested in Australia鈥檚 photography, history and early pop culture will enjoy this current exhibition,鈥� Jan Brazier said.听

Exhibition details听

What:听Chau Chak Wing Museum The Staged Photograph听

Where: Level 1,听Historic Photography Gallery,听Chau Chak Wing Museum听

When:听from 22 April 2023 through to December 2024听

Opening hours:听10am-5pm Monday to Friday (until 9pm Thursday); 12-4pm Saturday and Sunday; closed public holidays听听

Cost:听Free听

Contact:听02 9351 2812,听ccwminfo@sydney.edu.au

From 29 April a second photographic exhibition,听Photography and the Performative听will be on display at the Chau Chak Wing Museum.听