Punt Dawes Point

Photographer Harold Cazneaux (Australian, 1878 - 1953)

Datec 1921

Object number00054937

NamePhotograph

MediumSilver gelatin print on matt paper

DimensionsOverall: 250 × 290 mm
Display dimensions: 550 × 745 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA black and white photograph by Harold Cazneaux depicting three ferries departing the wharf at Dawes Point with smoke issuing from their funnels. HistoryPunts ferried horse-drawn carts, drays and motor vehicles across the harbour waters until the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 – larger punts between Fort Macquarie and Milsons Point, and smaller ferries such as that shown here between Dawes Point and Blues Point. Cazneaux here is interested in the atmospheric effects of the entiure scene - the car ferry and the steamers jostling around the waters at the Dawes Point Wharf. Today the site of the former ferry wharf under the southern Pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is marked with a sign featuring a Cazneaux photograph.SignificanceThe collection of Harold Cazneaux photographs date from about 1904 to the 1930s and include key images of Australia, of life on the water, the harbour, beach and coast and reveal the breadth of Cazneaux's practice as an artist-photographer. They are significant for their aesthethic value but also because of the landscapes and life they portray, a life focussed around the water at work or rest.