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S. Naidel, aged 16, at Bondi Beach on Sunday 25 September 1938 at the start of surf season
S. Naidel, aged 16, at Bondi Beach on Sunday 25 September 1938 at the start of surf season

S. Naidel, aged 16, at Bondi Beach on Sunday 25 September 1938 at the start of surf season

Photographer
Date1938
Object number00005789
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsOverall: 137 x 87 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA black and white photograph of a young man in dark swimming trunks standing on Bondi Beach. Handwritten inscription on the back reads 'Taken on the 25th Sept 1938 on a Sunday at Bondi Beach at the opening of the surf season. At 16 years of age S. Naidel'. Stamped in black ink upper right corner 'Neg e642h21 Ord. 67049. Please quote both numbers, the Leicagraph Co. Box 127 cc, GPO - Sydney'. Printed by the Leicagraph Company. HistoryThe 'snapshot craze' was both a pleasure and a pain for many from the 1930s and were operated by various photographic studios such as the Leicagraph Company. Patrons has the choice to buy their 'candid' shot from the studio for a small price and as cameras were a luxury most people could not afford or master, these informal photographs were very popular. The Courier Mail, 30 August 1935, records the popularity of the phenomenon. STREET SNAPSHOTS CRAZE, SYDNEY, Thursday. "Street snapshots, which a little while ago were not considered a novelty, have swept over the city and country and become a popular craze and a big industry. Every week 10,000 people in New South Wales buy pictures from street photographic companies. One company alone employs 80 persons, 25 of them cameramen, and there are dozens of companies. Leicagraph Co., according to its chief photographer, uses 550 rolls of film weekly, and each roll takes 40 photographs." SignificanceFrom the 1930s, street photography was hugely popular in Sydney with photographers taking candid and posed snaps of people going about their day. They appeared on the streets, dance halls, and pleasure locations such as Bondi.