Photograph of an Australian River Red Gum Eucalyptus tree at Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges.
Harold Cazneaux was born in New Zealand in 1878. His family moved to Sydney in 1887 and then to Adelaide two years later. At the age of 18, Cazneaux began his photographic career at Hammer Photographic Studios in Rundle Street, working as an artist-retoucher alongside his father who was employed as a portraitist.
Cazneaux also began to take classes at the Adelaide School of Design under Henry Pelham Gill, whose students included Margaret Preston and Hans Heysen.
In 1904, Cazneaux moved to Sydney and began work at his father's former studio, Freeman Brothers. He was never fulfilled by studio photographic work as he wished to use photography to express himself artistically and began to take photos around Sydney in his spare time. Cazneaux won several awards for his work, including first prize in 'A Kodak Happy Moment' competition in 1914. He produced a wide diversity of photographs ranging from portraits of well known people to landscapes, and images for books and magazines.
Described by Max Dupain as the father of modern Australian photography, Cazneaux was a leading exponent of the Pictorial School of photography. An early influence on his work was John Kauffman who brought Pictorialism from Europe, exhibiting in Adelaide in 1898.
The 'Spirit of Endurance', photographed in the Flinders Ranges in 1937, is arguably Cazneaux's most famous work. More than 50 years after his death the tree lives on and continues to be a favourite subject of tourists and photographers alike.
