Australian Seashores

Abstract

There is a growing popular awareness of the fragility of coastlines and seashores, due largely to an increasing understanding of climate change and habitat loss. Against this background, this exhibition sought to engage audiences with the splendour of the New South Wales coast and expand their understanding of its ecological diversity. It employed glass negatives and photographic prints, supplemented with natural history specimens from the Macleay Collections of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. It explored the work of Professor William J. Dakin, Dr Isobel Bennett, and Elizabeth Pope through the lens of their seminal book, Australian Seashores. Australian Seashores is a classic textbook in marine biology, which was reprinted and revised over a 35-year period between 1952 and 1987. The book’s concentration on Australian environments and organisms was a major departure from the essentially European and laboratory-based textbooks previously available to Australian students. Through Australian Seashores, the authors trained generations of scientists and educated the Australian public about local seashores, laying the foundation for citizen science in our era. The museum’s Historic Photography Collection contains a range of materials relating to the authors’ work. This includes the vast bulk of photographs taken for Australian Seashores, some of which were not chosen for publication, and others that document the authors undertaking fieldwork. This exhibition unveiled material that encapsulated the authors’ research, revealed some technical aspects of the photography and publication processes behind Australian Seashores, and provided insight into the relationship between the scientists and their colleagues. Following in the footsteps of its namesake, the Australian Seashores exhibition invited visitors to appreciate the beauty of our unique coastal environments and reflect on how they have changed, and how people can support their conservation.