1904: Korea through Australian eyes
Stereograph exhibition: George Rose
The Barr Smith Library is hosting an exhibition of historic photographs taken by pioneer Australian photographer George Rose (1861-1942), who visited Korea in 1904.
| Dr Sejin Pak of the University of Adelaide Centre for Asian Studies will give a talk, Korea in 1904, to accompany the photographic exhibition.
The talk will be held at 2.00pm on Friday 24 June in the Ira Raymond Room in the Barr Smith Library. All are welcome, no RSVP is required. |
Rose took pictures of Seoul, Incheon, Busan, and Pyeongyang, and produced more than fifty images known as stereographs, glass negatives containing dual images that produce a 3-D effect when viewed through a special optical device. This exhibition is of enlarged images from just from one side of the views, and so they do not display the three dimensional effect. The glass negatives produce high-quality enlargements that are wonderfully clear and show fine details.
The photos depict important aspects of Korean culture during the early 1900s, including the modernisation of Korea that was just beginning to take place. They also document an extensive Japanese presence in Korea in 1904 which is significant, as six years later, in 1910, Japan took over Korea and made it a Japanese colony. Korea didn't escape colonial rule until 1945, when the Japanese empire was defeated at the end of World War II.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Australia-Korea Foundation and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The exhibition will be on display in the Barr Smith Library entrance foyer from 1 June to 1 July 2005.
