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== Background ==
== Background ==
In September 1977, amidst increasing interest in the medium and establishment of public collections, at the Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) that had been officially opened by the Prime Minister’s wife in November 1974, Wayne Hooper of [[University of Sydney|Sydney University]] convened a conference 'Photography in Australia' and set up a committee of members interested in the history of the medium.<ref>Wayne Hooper, "Some Thoughts on What We Are on about and How We Might Go about It," unpublished manuscript [ early 1978 ], [p. 1 ].</ref>
In September 1977, amidst increasing interest in the medium and establishment of public collections, at the [[Australian Centre for Photography]] (ACP) that had been officially opened by [[Margaret Whitlam]] in November 1974, Wayne Hooper of [[University of Sydney|Sydney University]] convened a conference 'Photography in Australia' and set up a committee of members interested in the history of the medium.<ref>Wayne Hooper, "Some Thoughts on What We Are on about and How We Might Go about It," unpublished manuscript [ early 1978 ], [p. 1 ].</ref><ref>Catherine De Lorenzo, 'Agency and Authorship in Australian Photo Histories', in {{Citation | author1=Sheehan, Tanya, 1976- | title=Photography, history, difference | publication-date=2015 | publisher=Hanover, New Hampshire Dartmouth College Press | isbn=978-1-61168-647-0 }}</ref>

== Establishment ==
== Establishment ==
In December, the Sydney representatives joined Euan McGillivray and Matthew Nickson in proposing, and then establishing, a journal ''WOPOP: Working Papers on Photography''. From 20 Wellington Street, Richmond, in Melbourne, McGillivray and Nickson edited and irregularly published nine numbers of the staple-bound journal between 1978 and 1983. In 1980, when McGillivray was employed as curator at the Science Museum, it published proceedings of a follow-up conference convened by the journal over September 19-21, 1980 at [[Prahran College]] where the pair had studied under [[Athol Shmith]] and [[John Cato]].
In December, the Sydney representatives joined Euan McGillivray and Matthew Nickson in proposing, and then establishing, a journal ''WOPOP: Working Papers on Photography''. From 20 Wellington Street, Richmond, in Melbourne, McGillivray and Nickson edited and irregularly published nine numbers of the staple-bound journal between 1978 and 1983. In 1980, when McGillivray was employed as curator at the Science Museum, it published proceedings of a follow-up conference convened by the journal over September 19-21, 1980 at [[Prahran College]] where the pair had studied under [[Athol Shmith]] and [[John Cato]].

Revision as of 03:29, 25 February 2020

WOPOP: Working Papers on Photography was a short-lived academic photography journal published in nine issues between 1978 and 1983, and incorporating the proceedings of a 1981 conference in Melbourne.

Background

In September 1977, amidst increasing interest in the medium and establishment of public collections, at the Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) that had been officially opened by Margaret Whitlam in November 1974, Wayne Hooper of Sydney University convened a conference 'Photography in Australia' and set up a committee of members interested in the history of the medium.[1][2]

Establishment

In December, the Sydney representatives joined Euan McGillivray and Matthew Nickson in proposing, and then establishing, a journal WOPOP: Working Papers on Photography. From 20 Wellington Street, Richmond, in Melbourne, McGillivray and Nickson edited and irregularly published nine numbers of the staple-bound journal between 1978 and 1983. In 1980, when McGillivray was employed as curator at the Science Museum, it published proceedings of a follow-up conference convened by the journal over September 19-21, 1980 at Prahran College where the pair had studied under Athol Shmith and John Cato.

In WOPOP they proclaimed that they would "consider photography as a medium of communication as well as an art form,” with a  "focus…on the social usage of photography as on the images themselves,” by “drawing on sociology, history, literature, politics, aesthetics, anthropology and linguistics."

The journal reported on research in progress, listed the grants for photographic research, practice and display available from the Australia Council, and reprinted essays from international commentators John Berger, A. D. Coleman, J.C. Sherer and Allan Sekula. Several Australian contributors to the journal, especially Ann-Marie Willis who provided several of its articles, Jenni Mather[3] and Graeme Johanson[4] went on to publish substantial photo historical research.

Contents

The contents of WOPOP Issue No.1 of 1978  included an editorial by Euan McGillivray and Matthew Nickson, and articles; "John Heartfield" by Matthew Nickson; "Futurology & Photography" by Graeme Johanson (Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria); "LaTrobe Library Picture Collection" by Jenny Carew (acting Picture Librarian, Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria); "Sontag on Photography" by Ann-Marie Willis;[5] "Silver" by Matthew Nickson; "A Constitution Lost" by Ann-Marie Willis; "Australian Women Photographers" by Jenni Mather.[6]

Issue No.5 December 1979 is headed by McGillivray and Nickson’s editorial, and includes articles '...A Not So New Non Silver Process' by ‘the Editors’; 'China Cheesecake'; 'On the Subject of John Szarkowski' by A.D. Coleman; 'Pictures, Words and History' by Jozef Gross; 'Dismantling Modernism, Reinventing Documentary (Notes on the Politics of representation)' by Allan Sekula; and a Directory of Australian Pictorial Resources.  

Issue No.8 included Johansen’s investigation of German photographer of Australian indigenous people, J. W. Lindt.[7]

Cessation

The journal ceased publication with issue 9 of 1983 when McGillivray and Nickson moved on to inaugurate the Museum of Victoria’s Outreach Project in 1985 with the ambition to compile a national archive of Australian documentary, vernacular and historically significant photographs up to 1939, the centenary of the Daguerreotype. To do so, the pair issued a call for Australian's: 'to sit down with your family, look through your collection of photographs and select those which you and your family think should be included in the heritage of Australia,’ requesting specifically photographs of “members of your family at work, play, or engaged in leisure time activities…”.[8]

References

  1. ^ Wayne Hooper, "Some Thoughts on What We Are on about and How We Might Go about It," unpublished manuscript [ early 1978 ], [p. 1 ].
  2. ^ Catherine De Lorenzo, 'Agency and Authorship in Australian Photo Histories', in Sheehan, Tanya, 1976- (2015), Photography, history, difference, Hanover, New Hampshire Dartmouth College Press, ISBN 978-1-61168-647-0{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Australian Galleries Directors' Council; Hall, Barbara, 1946-, (author.); Mather, Jenni, 1946-, (author.); Gillespie, Christine, 1944-, (author.); Australian Gallery Directors Council, (sponsoring body.); Australian Centre for Photography, (sponsoring body.); Australia Council. Visual Arts Board, (sponsoring body.); George Paton Gallery, (host institution.) (1981), Australian women photographers, 1890-1950, George Paton Gallery, ISBN 978-0-9597254-7-6 {{citation}}: |author2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Johanson, Graeme (1974), Victoria through the lens : an exhibition of early photographs in the La Trobe Library, State Library of Victoria, retrieved 25 February 2020
  5. ^ Willis, Anne-Marie (1988), Picturing Australia : a history of photography, Angus & Robertson, ISBN 978-0-207-15599-4
  6. ^ Australian Galleries Directors' Council; Hall, Barbara, 1946-, (author.); Mather, Jenni, 1946-, (author.); Gillespie, Christine, 1944-, (author.); Australian Gallery Directors Council, (sponsoring body.); Australian Centre for Photography, (sponsoring body.); Australia Council. Visual Arts Board, (sponsoring body.); George Paton Gallery, (host institution.) (1981), Australian women photographers, 1890-1950, George Paton Gallery, ISBN 978-0-9597254-7-6 {{citation}}: |author2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Johanson, Graeme (1981), "J. W. Lindt (1845-1926)", WOPOP: Working Papers on Photography (8): 19–20, retrieved 25 February 2020
  8. ^ Bate, Weston; McGillivray, Euan; Nickson, Matthew (1986), Private lives - public heritage : family snapshots as history, Hutchinson Australia
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