Port Arthur by Frank Bolt

Port Arthur

A Photographic Essay

by Frank Bolt

Action Agencies, 1976, [Third Printing], sepia photographs throughout, landscape paperback

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, no inscriptions (See photographs)

“For over a century, Port Arthur has been a challenge to photographers.  First exposures date from 1860, depicting the settlement from a distance, and the impression is given that nearby photography of prison facilities was not allowed.
After the closure f the settlement in 1877, few photographs were made till the late nineties, when well-known Tasmanian photographers Beattie and Anson covered a number of buildings.  After a disastrous bushfire in 1897, Beattie again made several excursions to Port Arthur making many prints: he had  fine eye for the historic detail in a dramatic landscape.
An occasional private snapshot and a few more pretentious prints are with us from the late twenties, while famous Australian photographer Frank Hurley visited Port Arthur shortly after the Second World War.
The collection now offered in this book combines a new series of photographic impressions with newly compiled factual information, answering many of the unframed questions that arise when wandering between the silent by colourful ruins.”