Frank Hurley - Photographer

Frank Hurley (1885 - 1962) - Famous Australian Photographer & Adventurer

Frank Hurley 1911
Frank Hurley, 1911
(Source: Photoweb)

Introduction

"James Francis Hurley, was born on 15 October 1885 at Glebe, Sydney, second son of Edward Harrison Hurley, Lancashire-born printer and trade union official, and his wife Margaret Agnes, née Bouffier, of French descent." (Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)

"James Francis "Frank" Hurley, OBE (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces during both world wars...

"Out in the blizzard at Cape Denison adjacent to winter quarters 1912"
Photography, Photograph, carbon photograph
image 35.5 h x 45.0 w cm
Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd fund
Accession No: NGA 92.1385
(Source: National Gallery of Australia)

"Every foot had to be won against a relentless and cruel wind with bowed backs and strained muscles." Frank Hurley

Frank Hurley - In uniform

Experiences:

Hurley was also the official photographer on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition which set out in 1914 and was marooned until August 1916; Hurley produced many pioneering colour images of the Expedition using the then-popular Paget process of colour photography. He later compiled his records into the documentary film South in 1919. His footage was also used in the 2001 IMAX film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure." (Source: Wikipedia)

Education:

"At 13 Frank ran away from Glebe Public School and worked in the steel mill at Lithgow, returning home two years later. At night he studied at the local technical school and attended science lectures at the University of Sydney. He became interested in photography, buying his own Kodak box camera for 15 shillings. In 1905 he started a postcard business and in 1910 mounted the first exhibition of his work.

In 1911 Mawson invited Hurley to be official photographer on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition." (Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)

At work
(Source: Darcy Moore)

Employment:

Hurley was much more than an Antarctic photographer, however. In addition to his incredible image-making activity in Australia, he was an official correspondent during the First and Second World Wars. In the 1920s, he also ventured into the Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea at a time when few people of European descent had ever been there.

Hurley was a self-confessed ‘showman’. He embellished images to maximise their visual impact, for example by using the technique of composite printing (combining the best elements of several shots into one). While such manipulation was common in pictorial photography, Hurley was criticised for using it to enhance documentary images.

As expedition photographer, Hurley's images were not only important in documenting an unknown continent, but they also generated funds for future exploration. Hurley's expedition film, Home of the Blizzard (1913) was an astonishing first effort at cinematography. It reaped popular and financial success, and secured him a place on the Ernest Shackleton Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916.
(Source: Australian Government)

Training:

When he [Frank] bought his first camera at the age of 17, he could not have imagined that his collection of striking photographs would become such a significant part of the historic record.

Frank Hurley’s interest in photography was consolidated in his post card business. His first pictures earned him a reputation for exciting and dramatic images.

Hurley’s interest in Antarctica was probably stimulated by the news of previous Antarctic expeditions and by his meetings with Antarctic expeditioners in 1909, when the Nimrod of Shackleton’s first expedition visited Sydney.
(Source: State Library, NSW)

Links:

Australian Dictionary of Biography	Wikipedia
National Library of Australia - Hurley Collection	Frank Hurley's Antarctic photographs - National Library of Australia
Australian Government: Frank Hurley Local Copy: Word doc	NSW State Library - Hurley's Antarctica Local Copy: Word doc
ABC Australian Story: Out of the Blizzard (Transcript): 2001 Local copy: Word doc [13 pages]	ABC: RN: Remembrance Day: Frank Hurley (Audio) - A reading from his diary
National Library of Australia - Search Results for Frank Hurley Undergoing review - March 2023.	National Library of Australia: Frank Hurley Diaries Local Copy: Word doc
Australian Screen - A Nation is built (1938)	National Gallery of Australia
Australian Screen - Home of the Blizzard (1913)	Australian Screen - Siege of the South (1931)

YouTube: Australian Photography: Frank Hurley
https://youtu.be/p3o0co2AmiM

YouTube: Masters of Photography - Frank Hurley
https://youtu.be/8Uz08u5KRec

YouTube: ABC Stateline (2010): Frank Hurley
https://youtu.be/xUb3JVORTis

YouTube: Frank Hurley's Antarctica: State Library of NSW
https://youtu.be/iA4jVrPncjA

YouTube: Documentary on the Endurance
https://youtu.be/PAvbeahy80Q

Did You Know?

This website looks at the work of Frank Hurley during Ernest Shackleton's fabled Endurance expedition to Antarctica, 1914 - 1917

Have a look at this animation: Shackleton: A Voyage of Endurance

While recuperating, Sir Douglas Mawson began writing his account of the expedition. The Home of the Blizzard (London, 1915)[free ebook], profusely illustrated by the magnificent photographs of Frank Hurley, is a classic of polar literature and described the first major scientific exploring venture by Australians beyond their shores.
(Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography)

Hurley served alongside George Hubert Wilkins as the first official photographer to the Australian Imperial Forces in the First World War. The troops dubbed him the ‘mad photographer’ because of his derring-do to get pictures. He took some of the only known colour photos of the war.

During his 60-year career, Hurley took thousands of photographs, worked on more than 60 films and wrote more than 20 books.

He enjoyed popular acclaim, commercial success and official recognition with a Polar Medal in 1919 and an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1941.
(Source: Australian Government)

To recruit the participants in his epic failure at crossing Antarctica on foot, Ernest Shackleton posted an ad in the British press that read:

“Men wanted for hazardous journey, low wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, not assured return alive, honor and recognition in case of success”

More than 4,000 people applied.
(Source: The Conversation)

Frank Hurley - The Man Who Made History: Documentary Script

Activities

Using Pinterest, create a collection of images about a topic that interests you.

Primary Middle Secondary