State Library of South Australia

Fraser Smith Crawford [B 73000] • Photograph

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Summary

Studio portrait of a man identified as Fraser Smith Crawford, an early South Australian photographer.

Restrictions

This image has no known copyright restrictions.

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Physical description

Photograph (cabinet, albumen print); 13.8 cm x 9.7 cm (image), 16.6 cm x 11 cm (mount)

Dates / Publication details

Approximately 1884

Photographer

Hammer & Co

Collection

Part of Portrait Collection

Subject

Crawford, Frazer S. (Frazer Smith), -1890
Photographers -- South Australia 19th century

Catalogue record

Return to catalogue

Historical information

Description from Douglas Stewart sales catalogue: 'Albumen print photograph, cabinet card format, 165 x 110 mm, recto with imprint of Hammer & Co., 172 Rundle Street, Adelaide, verso with contemporary inscription in pencil, identifying the subject as Frazer Smith Crawford. The Scottish-born photographer and photolithographer Frazer Smith Crawford (1826-1890) is a significant figure in the history of Australian photography, acknowledged as being among the first photographers in Australia to provide original photographs for printed books. Crawford arrived in Australia in 1859 and spent brief periods as a photographer in both Melbourne and Sydney before settling in Adelaide in 1861. From around 1863 he was managing the Adelaide Photographic Company's studio. As the DAAO points out, although Crawford is not mentioned by Holden (Holden, Robert. Photography in colonial Australia : The mechanical eye and the illustrated book. Sydney : Hordern House, 1988), the photographs in George Hamilton's "The horse : Its treatment in Australia" (Adelaide : J.T. Shawyer, 1864), which Holden cites as one of the first two books printed in Australia to use original photographs, are possibly attributable to Crawford's Adelaide Photographic Company rather than to Townsend Duryea, Crawford's bitter professional rival in Adelaide. This is based on the fact that, only a short time later, Crawford's firm produced a portfolio of photographic prints of the ink drawings of Sophia Sinnett. Hammer & Co. were operating at their 172 Rundle Street address between 1882 and 1886, which provides a relatively narrow date range for this photograph.'

Digitisation information

Date

08/05/2013

Format

image/tiff

Resolution

4,540 x 6,750 pixels (30.6 MP)

Size

91.96 MB

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