SS ARCADIA II

Photographer Gervaise Churchill Purcell (1919-1999)

Date1954-1962

Object numberANMS1404[046]

NameNegative

MediumCellulose (nitrate or acetate) negative, black and white

DimensionsOverall: 118 x 163 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Leigh Purcell

Terms

DescriptionThis photograph depicts the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's SS ARCADIA II. An additional section of water has been added over the top of the lower half of the image, so that the immediate foreground features just water. This negative relates directly another item in the museum's collection, ANMS1404[045]. As a pair the images demonstrate an example of photographic retouching and editing, where the three young male onlookers from the original image have been edited out and replaced with water.HistoryThe SS ARCADIA II was built by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). It was launched in May 1953 and undertook its maiden voyage from Tilbury, England to Australia on 22 February 1954. The vessel serviced the passenger trade between the United Kingdom and Australia for the next 16 years. From 1959, the vessel also undertook Pacific cruises stopping at New Zealand. In 1970, it became the first large vessel to cruise on the Alaskan coast. On 29 January 1979, ARCADIA made its last cruise from Sydney, New South Wales via Brisbane, Queensland and Hong Kong to Singapore. Almost a month after the voyage, the vessel was sold and broken up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.SignificanceThese photographic negatives were taken by Australian commercial photographer Gervaise Purcell from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. They represent his work for clients such as swimwear manufacturer Jantzen, as well as retail giants David Jones and Hordern Brothers, cruise ship operators the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), radio technology manufacturer Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA) and tourism operator Ansett Airways. Many of the images were taken with a Graflex Crown Graphic camera in the 1950s.