John William Lindt (1845–1926) was a prominent German-born Australian photographer, celebrated for his pioneering landscape, portrait, and ethnographic work. He was a key figure in 19th-century Australian colonial photography.
His photographic career in Australia commenced when he bought a studio in Grafton (northern NSW0) where he produced his well-known photographs of locals including Aboriginal peoples of the Clarence River region.
Lindt moved to Melbourne in 1876, establishing a successful studio on Collins Street that catered to the city's wealthy clientele. His reputation grew rapidly due to his technical skill and artistic eye.
The financial crisis of the 1890s led Lindt to close his city studio in 1894. He moved to "The Hermitage," a guest house he built in the scenic Black Spur area of Victoria, where he lived out his semi-retirement, continued landscape photography, and hosted guests until his death in the disastrous bushfires of 1926.
J. W. Lindt is remembered an influential figure in Australian photographic history, whose images provide a vital record of 19th-century colonial life and the Pacific region. His work is held in major collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of NSW.
Wikipedia entry: click here
Biography online - click here
Australian Dictionary of Biography 2006 - click here
Grafton Art Gallery John William Lindt collection: click here for the gallery site
note that the gallery has no Lindt images available online
FYI: see the Italian collection below for an equivalent collection..
Photos of Aboriginal peoples photographed by J. W. Lindt and commissioned by Luigi Maria D'Albertis (1873-74)
with researched by Australian historian Ken Orchard, in collaboration with the Museum.
State Library of NSW 2014 article: Contact Prints by J W Lindt
Good article by James McCardle: March 2020 'Artifact'
includes many Lidt images and background to the images and research.
Uncle Sam: a piece about a large tree near The Hermitage with useful references to Lindt and the Hermitage,
the caption for the 1878 print reads: Christmas Day under "Uncle Sam," a giant gum-tree, on the Black Spur Road, measuring forty-four feet in circumference
Jennie Boddington essay in NGV art Journal #16: J. W. Lindt Photographer. The correct date for the essay is January 1975.
Art Gallery of South Australia: Portrait of an Aborignal Man c 1873
Related research:
Calling The Shots, Aboriginal Photographies, edited by Jane Lydon 2014,
