KAREN MAGEE

I first encountered Captain Sweet whilst working as an intern at the Art Gallery of South Australia. I quickly became fascinated with his dynamic images of the State and the rich tones of his albumen prints which ranged from livery brown to the almost purple hues of gold toning. Having fairly recently migrated to Australia from England myself, Sweet’s photographs were my introduction to Adelaide, South Australia and its history. I continued to work on the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Sweet collection as an assistant curator and gradually realised how important his images must have been for those recently arrived or about to migrate to South Australia. Just as English migrants and settlers made decisions about migration, investment and travel based on Sweet’s photographs, so I have been lured by them to almost every site of their creation around South Australia. Captain Sweet has led me on adventures to the Flinders Ranges and the Outback, on steam trains and ships, and to such wildly diverse locations as Aboriginal lands and the bustling city streets of Adelaide.

I am now engaged in writing up my doctoral research on the photographs of Captain Sweet. Immersed every day in Sweet’s images of South Australia in the late 1800s, I have to be careful not to tumble altogether into the nineteenth century.

I am always delighted to hear from others who share my interest in the Captain or who have nineteenth century photographs they would like to discuss.

© Karen Magee 2008 - 2009