Elliot Maynard with muttonbirds around his neck

Photographer Ricky Maynard (1953)

Date1985

Object number00018063

NamePhotograph

MediumSilver gelatin print, fibre based paper

DimensionsDisplay dimensions: 435 × 59 mm
Overall: 243 × 351 mm
Image: 195 × 300 mm
Mount / Matt size: 407 × 560 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Collections

Terms

DescriptionThis silver gelatin photograph depicts Elliot Maynard carrying a load of muttonbirds back to the cleaning shed. Elliot can be seen wearing an Australian Rules football-style striped beanie. This photograph was taken by photographer Ricky Maynard in 1985. Ricky Maynard is a documentary photographer and for generations his family have returned each year in March to the islands of Bass Strait to catch mutton birds and prepare them for sale. HistoryMuttonbird hunting is a central part of Tasmanian Aboriginal life that has been practiced for generations. The migratory birds travel annually from the North Pacific to nest in south east Australia, specifically around Tasmania. It is one of a small group of Australian native birds that are commercially harvested for their meat, oil and feathers. Each year the hunting season is restricted to 27 March through to 30 April in order to stop over harvesting. This industry is an important aspect of contemporary Aboriginal community and culture in Tasmania. Today hunting muttonbirds is associated with preserving Aboriginal culture and respecting Indigenous land rights. Ricky Maynard was born in Launceston, Tasmania in 1953 and showed an interest in photography from a young age. At 16 he moved to Melbourne to play football and later began working in the photographic industry as a darkroom technician. In 1988, Ricky was selected to participate in the Indigenous photographers 'After 200 years' project. He returned to Tasmania to photograph the muttonbird season, selecting images to represent the various aspects of muttonbirding in the Indigenous community. Maynard's family has returned to the islands of Bass Strait each year to catch and harvest muttonbirds. The event is a commercial exercise that has great cultural meaning to the Aboriginal people, who return each year to undertake the same activity as their ancestors.SignificanceThe Australian National Maritime Museum approached Ricky Maynard to chronicle the traditional practice of mutton birding by the Aboriginal people of Bass Strait Tasmania. These photographs were taken in the Coorong area, Murray Lakes Region, South Australia, where mutton birding also takes place by the Ngarrindjeri People. The resulting series of black and white photographs became known as The Moonbird People. Ricky chose the photographs in the Australian Maritime Museum’s Collection because they show the different aspects to work and the different people in their tasks. Ricky has shown each person in his or her own landscape.