![](/sites/default/files/styles/max_width_700/https/s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/prod--slnsw-corporate-site/uploads/2018-06/collection-items/42461/a844009h.jpg?itok=zV3y7r2D)
Sydney, ca. 1885-1890 / photographed by Arthur K. Syer 1935
Arthur Syer, brother of the artist Walter Syer, was a friend of cartoonist Phil May and supplied him with 'snapshot' photographs of ordinary people in daily attire. Phil May, renowned for the life-like quality of his illustrations, used the photographs to impart an authentic atmosphere to his cartoons. Syer's low angle photographs were taken surreptitiously, using a 'detective camera'. Such cameras, sometimes concealed in parcels or portmanteau, were made possible with the invention of the dry plate in 1880.
Reference:
'Phil May and his photography', Australian Magazine, 1908. pp 668-677
Some Syer photographs reproduced in: 'Old Books, Old Friends, Old Sydney' / by James R. Tyrrell (1952)
To find out how you may reuse this content, please check the copyright status in the catalogue record.