Studio portrait photograph of Thomas Hinton alongside an 'Advance Australia' banner.
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- Type
- Albumen prints
- Materials
- Cardboard, Photographic emulsion
- Collection
- Thomas Hinton collection
- Accession number
- 2012.0015.0004
Description
A black and white studio photograph of a man standing next to a banner that has been folded over and a draped flag. It is printed on thick cream coloured card. The card has gold edges. The photograph is slightly smaller than the card and the words 'Louis Konrad / LAUNCESTON TASMANIA / 60 Cameron Street' appear in gold lettering below the photograph. Above the gold print the words 'Little [Lon?]ger' are handwritten in red ink. The man in the photograph is wearing a bowler hat, has a beard and is holding a stick. An emu and decorated shield shape can be seen on the banner. There is a photograph stuck to the back of the card that shows the flag laid out. It is only stuck along the top edge and the word 'B[ea?]t' can be seen in red ink underneath the photograph.
About the collection
This collection contains 15 studio photographs attached to 11 pieces of cardboard, dating from 1900. A remarkable set of images, they utilise the late nineteenth century conventions of photographic studio portraiture to present a unique response to Australia at the dawn of the twentieth century. We cannot know what meaning they were intended to have by Thomas Hinton (b. 1857 – d. after 1924), who commissioned and featured in the photographs. Hinton worked as an engine driver in the Tasmanian midlands. Shortly after the photographs were taken he was admitted to an insane asylum primarily because of 'a mania for having his photograph taken.' This collection has strong bearing on a number aspects of Australian cultural history, including the treatment and experience of mental illness; Federation and the choosing of the flag; the Advance Australia coat of arms; the history of photography and of the understanding, collection and appreciation of 'outsider art'.
Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 6:26:47 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-09-30. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.