STRATHEDEN departing Sydney Cove

Photographer John Richard 'Jack' Tyrrell Richardson

Datec 1960

Object numberANMS1125[226]

NamePhotograph

MediumPhotograph print on paper

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Patricia Grace

Terms

DescriptionBlack and white image by photographer John Richardson of the P&O passenger liner STRATHEDEN departing Sydney Cove with the assistance of tugboats. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is prominent in the background. HistoryJohn Richard 'Jack' Tyrrell Richardson was a prolific commercial and illustrative photographer from the 1940s to the 1970s. Along with business partner Jack C Young, Richardson set up the photographic studio Young & Richardson (or J C Young & Richardson) at 133 Walker Street North Sydney in the 1950s. In addition to running his studio, Richardson undertook freelance work and had a keen interest in photographing passenger ships as they entered Sydney Harbour. He would take photos of the ships from the north shore, go back to his studio and develop them, then board the ship to sell them to passengers through the official ship store. Richardson’s photographs were popular with the ship’s passengers, particularly when the image included the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and later, the Sydney Opera House under construction. John Richardson photographed a range of passenger ships including ARAMAC, CHUSAN, CANBERRA, EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, STRATHMORE, ORONSAY, IBERIA, ARCADIA, ORCADES, HIMALAYA, ORSOVA, ORIANA, ORION, GALILEO GALILEI, STRATHAIRD, ORION, STRATHNAVER, STRATHEDEN and the barquentine Chilean naval training ship ESMERALDA. SignificanceThe John Richardson photographic collection is an important record of the passenger liners and cruise ships in Sydney Harbour from the late 1950s to the 1970s. Produced and sold as souvenirs, the photographic collection illustrates the development in passenger ship design over a 20 year period, as well as a range of Sydney Harbour waterfront developments, particularly the construction of the Sydney Opera House between 1959 and 1973.