Monday, 8 March 2010
In just 20 years, whole towns in the Goldfields rose and fell.
The goldrush years from 1896 to 1917 saw buildings, machinery and people come and go in a period of rapid change and growth. It was documented by photographer John Joseph Dwyer.
His images give an honest and historical perspective, not only of the Goldfields but also the experience of transience.
Two academics from the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts have published a book of Dwyer's photographs. Professor William Taylor and Philip Goldswain are both architects and lecturers in architectural design and history.
Their book, An Everyday Transience: The Urban Imaginary of Goldfields Photographer John Joseph Dwyer , also includes a collection of writings by local authors offering contemporary insights into the nature of these important historical images.
The accompanying text is written by the architects together with Professors Clarissa Ball and Geoffrey London , novelist Joan London, photographic archivist Dr Joanna Sassoon and writer and film maker Barry Strickland.
The authors are also curating an exhibition of Dwyer's photographs at the Cullity Gallery. It includes rescanned and reprinted images from the Western Australian Museum's collection and original Dwyer prints loaned from the Kerry Stokes Collection.
An Everyday Transience is published by UWA Publishing and is in the Co-op Bookshop for $59.95.
The exhibition opens at the Cullity Gallery on March 21.
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