Photographs | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Photographs

Showing 1 - 12 of 58 results
Painting of chrysanthemums

Ellis Rowan, Chrysanthemums, ca. 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138089294

Australian artist Ellis Rowan primarily worked in watercolour and gouache, and is best known for painting Australian native flowers. She caused a stir at the 1888–89 Centennial International Exhibition in Melbourne when her painting Chrysanthemums won First Order of Merit and Gold Medal. This similar painting, depicting the same type of flower, is a more recent addition to the Library's vast Rowan Collection, the bulk of which was acquired for the nation for £5,000 in 1923.

Pictures collection

Our rich and varied Pictures collection focuses on Australian people, places and events, from early European exploration of the South Pacific to contemporary events.

Information article
Collection guide
York Collection

About 600 books and 66 serials mainly relating to entomology and the natural sciences. The strength is works on British entomology but also includes Europe, North and South America. About one-third were published in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Wilson Collection

Drawings, sketches, plans and photographs of Australian colonial architecture, ancient buildings from China and Greece, furnature designs and sketches for a proposed "ideal city" of Kurrajong.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Williamson Collection

The J.C. Williamson Ltd archives include a wide range of materials, such as business records, playscripts, libretti, music, programs, magazines, books, costume designs, and photographs. It also contains personal papers from Williamson's business partners, the Tait family and George Tallis.

Collection guide
Collection guide
White Collection

Personal papers of Patrick White, plus letters from White to other Australian writers acquired as part of their papers. Also papers of White's biographer David Marr and those of the artist and theatre designer Desmond Digby who had a long friendship with White.

Collection guide
Woman looking a large colourful colourful illustration of two birds in a tree

Ellis Rowan, Rothschild's Bird-of-Paradise, or Rothschild's Astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi), Papua New Guinea, 1917, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138748166

Using the Pictures Collection

How to find and use items in the Pictures Collection.

Information article
Library services
Collection guide
Tregellas Collection

About 10,000 stereoscopic view cards produced by both commercial and amateur photographers in all parts of the world and a significant collection of photographic equipment and some books and journals on photography.

Collection guide
Black and white photo from inside the National Bank head office. 2 ornate staircases in the middle of the image surrounded by white pillars and desks.

Wolfgang Sievers, Interior of National Bank head office, Collins Street, Melbourne, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143527488

Sievers Collection

Wolfgang Sievers' remarkable legacy with about 19,000 prints and 52,000 negatives and transparencies captured from 1938 to 1991. His work offers an extraordinary glimpse into Australian architecture, mining, and industry. 

Collection guide
Collection guide
Sculthorpe Collection

Personal papers, manuscript scores, literary manuscripts, sound recordings and family photographs of Peter Sculthorpe, plus videos of films for which he wrote the music and television interviews.

Collection guide
Drawing of a king parrot

George Raper, King parrot (Alisterus scapularis), 1788, nla.obj-150068793

Rights and the Pictures Collection

A summary of copyright and rights in the Pictures Collection.

Information article
An old photograph of people in sensible clothing going for a walk in the bush.
Photographs of the anti-fashion Rational Dress Movement

The Library has recently acquired 3 photographs from a Rational Dress Movement picnic in 1895.

News article
Two woman in green and gold clothing embracing excitedly in front of a crowd.

Leigh Henningham, Matildas fans reacting to an Australian goal at a public screening of the Australia vs Canada 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup match at Federation Square, Melbourne, Victoria, 31 July, nla.obj-3254738517

Photographs of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

The Library commissioned photographers to capture the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

News article

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