Australian flaneur Arthur K. Syer took these candid photographs of street scenes in Sydney, Australia towards the end of 19th Century. We see deliveries, barrow shopping, queues at Circular Quay, shipping, street cleaning, children playing, farming, scenes at horse races and farming scenes. Syer’s low angle photographs were taken surreptitiously, using a ‘detective camera’. Such cameras, sometimes concealed in parcels or portmanteau, were made possible with the invention of the dry plate in 1880.
Sydney c.1895 – Arthur K. Syer
Circular Quay, Sydney c.1897 – Arthur K. Syer
Arthur K. Syer was brother of the artist Walter Syer, (aka the illustrator ‘Cue’) and a friend of Phil May, the English cartoonist who for three years (1886–1889) worked for the The Sydney Bulletin. Arthur supplied May with snapshots photographs of everyday people. May used the photographs to add authenticity to his cartoons.
Sydney c.1897 – Arthur K. Syer
Sydney c. 1897, by Arhur K. Syer
Advertising hoarding for McLean-Rigg – Sydney c. 1897, by Arhur K. Syer
Manly Ferry, Sydney c. 1897, by Arhur K. Syer
Gentleman paying street merchant Sydney c. 1897, by Arhur K. Syer
Governor Bourke Hotel, Sydney c. 1897 photo by Arthur K. Syer
Girl with pet duck on lead, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
King and Elizabeth Street corner, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Advertising hoarding, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Farming scene Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
An aviary in Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Chimney sweep in Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Circular Quay, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Phillip Street, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Small band playing in street, Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Sydney c. 1897 by Arthur C. Syer
Via: State Library of New South Wales
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