holtermann

Amazing.

Congrats on Explore! ⭐ April 22, 2020

wow..very nice

Beautiful

Greetings from Canada. Beautiful Vintage

Looks like three wallabies hanging up and a fourth behind the bottles to the the right of the four stacked rifles, two of which appear to have native flowers poking down the barrels, possibly Gymea lily florets (going out on a limb here), which would place the camp in the Sydney basin, I'd even go further and suggest the Illawarra hinterland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doryanthes_excelsa

There was wallaby shooting in the Illawarra in the 1890s - Sad Hunting Fatality. (1898, July 1). National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156747075 "If, on the other hand, you are inclined for shooting, take a gun with you and put in a pleasant time hunting rock wallabies or bandicoots." ILLAWARRA WAY. (1897, December 26). Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 4. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126247842 Not forgetting another name of the Gymea lily, if that is what they are, is Illawarra lily - THESE ARE AUSTRALIAN: (1957, June 19). The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), p. 17. Retrieved February 22, 2022, from nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47210198 And there are more flowers on the ground near one of the stacked rifles. I can only think Gymea lilies or waratahs would be that size.

And what's going on with the black dots for the irises in the eyes of some of the chaps including Bernard Otto himself? The glass negative may have been doctored at some stage to (attempt to) repair the poor quality of the original. And another thing, there appears to be is a pair of horse's front legs between the wheels of the cart on the left, partially obscured by the mounting step, there is a horse standing patiently behind the cart.

The horse's rear legs may be obscured by the wheel on the left. I'd say that wallaby on the ground is about to be skinned and gutted for dinner, but they'll need the other three as well to feed seventeen hungry men and boys. And how exhausted are the two dogs from chasing all that wildlife. Oh and if it's an overnight camp it's going to be really cosy in just the two tents, one's probably just for the camera gear and the blokes sleep in the open.

Yes, the negative has been doctored to make the eyes prominent you can see this particularly on Holtermann's blurred head. You may also have noticed the plate itself is covered in speckles caused by particles on the plate, not uncommon I imagine when developing wet plates negatives in the bush. Also above the left tent you can see fingerprints left on the negative by the photographer while the collodion was still wet.

Ha! This is interesting. It is from the tall tower of Bernard Holterman's house, a favourite view for photographers. See background history and the famous 1875 Holtermann Panorama - nga.gov.au/Exhibition/PICTUREPARADISE/pdf/Holtermann.pdf There are many panoramas from here; it will be interesting to see if we can get a firm date for it. To start, the absence of the 1892 Hentsch's Bond (cnr Windmill and Kent St, Millers Point) suggests c.1890. Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons Do you have any more adjoining photos for a possible panorama?

Interesting to compare with this later Charles Kerry photo from the same place, but slightly to the left. It just shows the Hensch's Bond at full Zoomit - from.ph/27618 PhM

The Hotel Australia (see note) is there, opened in July 1891. So this photo has to be 1891. Somebody cleverer than me could probably work out the month from the angle and length of the shadows!

www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia/ What a fascinating man! Was just reading this blog on him over at SLNSW : Bernard Holterman