Sidney Nolan: Desert and Drought
Nolan and the photographic eye

Sidney Nolan made extensive photographic documentation of his 1949 trip through Central Australia. These photographs provide insights into Nolan’s early travels and into the life of rural Australia in the post-war era. More importantly they reveal much about Nolan’s creative process and the role photography played in relation to his art. Nolan was fascinated with how the momentary flash of inspiration arrives in the mind’s eye and photography reflected that vision.

He devised an innovative way of creating wide-angle photographs, which he used to capture the vastness of the Australian centre and to construct narrative sequencing in a still image.

Many of Nolan’s photographs differ from subsequent paintings. Reflecting a lively interest in contemporary outback life, numerous images depict Aboriginal people amidst the work a day existence of remote cattle stations. Nolan was emphatic in his admiration for Aboriginal culture and these photographs raise some intriguing questions about his numerous explorer paintings.

While Nolan maintained a life long interest in photography, he only once produced a series of photographs for public exhibition, focusing on the 1952 Queensland drought. These formal compositions represent a dramatic shift from his earlier photographs. The frames, shot from a low vantage point connect the viewer with these images in an intimate and at times, disturbing manner. While these stark photographs are somewhat reminiscent of war reportage, Nolan goes beyond the realm of detached journalistic referencing, creating a compelling series of universal dimensions.

Sidney NOLAN
(1917–92)
No title: (Foal carcase in tree) (1952)
gelatin silver photograph, ink (contact print)
5.5 x 5.4 cm (image)
6.3 x 6.1 cm (sheet)
Private collection, United Kingdom