Photographer John H. Jones created an extraordinary record of colonial Victoria. His 1862 Jones’s Photographs of Australian Sceneries are early images of the growing colony, from the ports and bridges of Melbourne, to the settlements and picturesque scenery further afield. This exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to view these rare stereographs, part of the collection of Bendigo Art Gallery. Most of the images have not been exhibited or published since their creation 150 years ago.
Stereographs were a hugely popular form of entertainment from the mid-nineteenth century, and one of the earliest applications of 3D technology. Viewing the stereographs through a stereoviewer created the illusion of a single three-dimensional image. Many homes had a stereoviewer and collection of stereographs, which could be sent to family and friends in England as evidence of the expansion of ‘Her Majesty’s territories’.
Her Majesty’s Territories will display a selection of 50 of Jones’s stereographs, including the towns and landscapes along the route between Melbourne and Bendigo. Using more modern forms of 3D technology, visitors will be able to view some of the scenes as they were originally intended to be seen – in 3D.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 136 page publication featuring the complete set of Jones’s Views of Australian Sceneries.
BENDIGO ART GALLERY
42 View Street, Bendigo, Victoria | P: 5434 6088
Exhibition dates: 9 February – 1 April 2013
