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SUN PICTURES OF VICTORIA
The two Melbourne photograhers Antoine Fauchery and Richard Daintree joined forces in 1857 following their less than successful time in the goldfields of Victoria. Daintree was a geoligist and had arrived from England in 1853. Fauchery came from France in 1852; an 'interesting' character - being a artist, adventurer and journalist. Both had an interest in photography.
Their studio 'Fauchery and Daintree'
operated from Collins Street East Melbourne. It was one of the earliest and most successful photography studios in Melbourne. It was still early days in the history of this new medium of photography.
They are best known for the publication of photographs titled Sun Pictures of Victoria. They documented the new city of Melbourne, portraits of prominent colonists, the surrounding countrysides of Victoria, geological features and the gold diggers and their mines in regional Victoria. They aslo produced early photographs of the indigenous peoples.
Antoine Fauchery led an interesting and diverse life, including opening a cafe in Melbourne. From Wikipedia:
Antoine Julien Nicolas Fauchery (15 November 1823 – 1861) was a French adventurer, writer and photographer with republican sympathies. He participated in the national uprising in Poland in 1848 (Greater Poland Uprising), opened a photographic studio in Melbourne Australia in 1858 and was commissioned to accompany the French forces as they progressed to Beijing during the last stage of the Second Opium War in 1860. He wrote thirteen long dispatches from the front-line for le Moniteur, the official French government newspaper. He died in Yokohama of dysentery.
The Sun Pictures of Victoria were released in ten monthly installments from 1858 and they remain an important documentation of the British colony prior to 1860. Faunchery and Diantree parted company in 1859, with Fauchery leaving Australia and Daintree moving to Queensland in 1864.
The following selection of photographs are mainly from the State Library of Victoria's website. While both photographers were involved with Sun Pictures of Victoria, it is not always clear who took which photograph. Some are signed and most people credit Daintree with most of the goldfields photographs, some Melbourne images, the photographs of Indigenous peoples and geological photographs. Richard Daintree is today acknowledged internationally as being a pioneer in making the link between science (geology) and the use of photography.
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| Indigenous man circa1858 |
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| Indigenous man circa1858 |
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| Indigenous child circa1858 |
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Argus Flat Gold Mining Company's claim-
Forest Creek. photo by Richard Daintree |
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| Deserted diggings Spring Creek ca.1858 |
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| Hart's Patent Puddling Machine; said to wash 500 tons per week |
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| Washing out a good prospect ca.1858 |
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| Group of diggers ca1858 |
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Drydens Rock
photo by Richard Daintree |
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| Drydens Rock near Woodend |
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| Drydens Rock north side; Photo Richard Daintree |
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| View of Castlemaine Town; Photo Richard Daintree |
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| Old Post Office Hill, Forest Creek |
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| Golden Point, Forest Creek; photo Richard Daintree |
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| Specimen of a red gum tree |
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| Open forest country Near Yan Yean |
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| Falls on the Campaspie River |
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Falls at Glen Lyon Upper Loddon River
photo by Antoine Fauchery |
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| Swanston Street Melbourne |
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| Bourke Street looking west from Spring Street, 1858 |
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| Collins Street, Melbourne, 1858 |
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| The Melbourne Savings Bank |
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| The National Model and Training School, Melbourne |
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| The Yarra below the Falls, Melbourne |
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| The Yarra near Studley Park ca1858 |
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| Open forest country Near Yan Yean |
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Views near Heidelberg; the Yarra flooded.
Photo Richard Daintree |
Antoine Fauchery - on Wikipedia
More on The Sun Pictures of Victoria
Return to the Daintree main page
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