willow

This is a perfect rear view of the old Venus fountain in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens. In the distance there is a man leaning against the bridge handrail with his back to the camera. If you look at photograph by Kerry in the Tyrrell collection of the front of the fountain you can see it was taken from that bridge. Here is the other view on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2362680091/ Through at the Persistent URL for that image, we can see that in part the curator's note says: "... The image depicts The Venus fountain in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. The image appears to have been taken from a bridge in the gardens and part of the bridge is depicted in the foreground of the image. The Venus fountain is depicted in the centre of the image. It features a female figure with cupid and dolphins at her feet. The Venus fountain is located in the Main Pond in the Lower Garden of the Royal Botanic Gardens. The fountain and pond are the focal points of the image. The background of the image depicts the vegetation in the gardens. The caption, studio mark and studio number are inscribed on the reverse of the negative. The Venus fountain was originally made of zinc alloy with lead intrusions and mounted on a rock base. It features a female figure representing Venus with cupids and dolphins at her feet. Double fountain sprays are located with each dolphin and shell fountains with each cupid. The base of the fountain was originally surrounded by weathered rocks and large clam shells as depicted in this image. These were later replaced by a sculptured crocodile. The base of the fountain is currently unadorned. The statue was recast in bronze in 1990. 61/71 Tyrrell Inventory Number, 22 Kerry Studio Number" [ ref. 85/1284-14 Glass negative, full plate, 'The Lake, Botanical Gardens', Kerry and Co, Sydney, Australia, c. 1884-1917 www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=27979 ]

Girolamo Nerli (one of Heidelberg artists) - "Botanic Gardens, Sydney" 1886 (AGNSW) collection.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/results.do?db...

i love this. its always interesting how entertaining parks were the past

Interesting!!

Your photos are very cool!

Wow, cool shot! Makes me wish I could have been there!

Great shot. A more peaceful time.

This railway bridge is still much the same according to googlemaps/earth; between Windsor and Mulgrave, NSW. But why two photographers, and a man risking all on the bridge?