Penny Russell: ‘I only saw it in the camera’ - John Rae’s Sydney

John Rae, Sydney’s first Town Clerk, loved to capture his urban surroundings using the power of words and an array of new technologies. In the decade after his arrival in 1839 he strove to make his version of Sydney visible to audiences at home and abroad; in the 1880s he recreated his earlier sketches to support new narratives of colonial progress and modernity. Professor Penny Russell FAHA examines subjectivity and objectivity in Rae’s artful representations.

Penny Russell FAHA is an emeritus professor at The University of Sydney, where she taught Australian and gender history. Her research focuses on the intricacies of class, status, gender and culture in Australian colonial society. In 2023 she held the Ross Steele AM Fellowship at SLNSW.