Husbands and Wives

When photography arrived in Australia in the early 1840s it was quickly embraced as a curiously new method of image-making. Early photographs, in their tactile and treasureable presentation, lent themselves easily to the purpose of a precious keepsake and had the additional appeal of being more affordable than paintings. This combination would gradually see photographs supplant other types of portraiture as a means of giving tangible form to personal feelings. Husbands and Wives presents a collection of personal portraits and stories, offering a glimpse into the private lives of nineteenth-century couples and families and traces the impact of photography on the practice of portraiture in Australia. Presented at the same scale as early nineteenth-century glass photographs, Husbands and Wives is fittingly bound in embossed faux leather reminiscent of the tactile cases that protected early photographs and made them cherished mementos to be held to the heart. The photographs illustrated in full colour in Husbands and Wives have been drawn from the National Portrait Gallery collection, the State Galleries and Libraries and also private collections.