“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL
January 1945 Page 38 - Australasian Photo-Review
The attainment during 1944 of a certain Editorial objective, together with a deep realization of the ever growing support which is being tendered to the A.P.-R. by contributors, competitors and subscribers alike, has encouraged us to bring forward a plan which we had under consideration at the outbreak of hostilities. It was that we had long felt that the generous support which the A.P.-R. was receiving from good friends everywhere merited some tangible form of recognition on our part, something which would be a permanent record of one’s achievement in the field of photography. Accordingly, it has been decided to introduce the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal and the A.P.-R. Recognitions.
The Recognition Medal will be a handsomely engraved medal of modern design, the obverse of which, some what enlarged, is illustrated above. (The issue of the actual medals must await some change in the current regulation forbidding the manufacture of medals but a formal certificate of award will be issued as a provisional acknowledgment). The Recognition Medal or Medals (not exceeding three per annum) may be awarded annually to those whose contribution to the A.P.-R., and thereby to the advancement of Photography, has been noteworthy. This contribution may have been in the field of literary or photographic contribution or in general personal progress or in assistance rendered to other workers. In view of the fact that consideration was being given to the introduction of the Recognition Medal at the outbreak of hostilities, it has been decided to make the awards not only for the current year, but also retrospective for six years.
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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| J.P. Carney ARPS | Harold Cazneaux Hon. FRPS | G.S. Davies | Athel F. D’Ombrain | A.R. Eade | John B. Eaton FRPS | The late G.L. Fisher | J.W. Ikin | F.C. Johnson |
| C.O. Kroker | L.A. Lyons | C.P. Mountford | Ainslie Roberts | R. Munro Robertson | Dr. Julian Smith Hon. FRPS | W.H. Stuckey | A.G. Williams | Clarence B. Young |
NOTE ON THE DESIGN OF THE MEDAL
In giving consideration to possible designs for the Medal, our thoughts turned to the fact that photography is, above all, a means of self-expression by means of one of the graphic arts. That being so, what could we think of as symbolizing self-expression by graphic art in Australia? The thought was not far to seek when we recollected our beliefs that the aboriginal rock carvings and paintings found in widely distributed areas of the continent are indeed the first instances of self-expression in Australia.
We next consulted The Australian Museum (Sydney) and this body referred us to their authority in this line, Frederick D. McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy confirmed our beliefs and kindly contributed the article "Australian Aboriginal Rock Engravings" which is below. We feel sure that a study of facts contained in this article will add much to the interest which the recipients will derive from the various awards bearing the rock-carving design.
As for the Recognitions, these will happily fill an existing minor need. Our attention has on many occasions, been drawn to the fact that once a successful competitor has parted with his Prize Order, he no longer has anything specific to show for his achievement; now, starting with January 1945, he will have his Recognitions. These are similar in style to the well known International Salon Label, and will be awarded to all Special, First, Second and Third prizewinners.
Recognitions can be attached to the reverse of a duplicate print should it be so desired. The colors of the Recognitions will be in attractive shades of blue (First and Special), red (Second), and yellow (Third), and will carry the name of the competitor, award, month, year and official number for purposes of record.
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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| O.A. Sims | Arthur Smith | Walter S. Wood |
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL ROCK ENGRAVINGS
FREDERICK D. MCCARTHY
In my opinion the selection of an aboriginal engraving a carving in a rock as a design for the A.P.-R. medal is to be commended. In the first place, rock engraving is the oldest form of aboriginal art in Australia, and in the second place, aboriginal art motifs have now taken their rightful place in the art of modern Australia, both commercially and aesthetically.
In New South Wales, in the area embraced by the coast and Blue Mountains, the southern side of the Hunter River valley and National Park, are to be seen an astonishing number of rock engravings. They are carved in carefully selected extensive and comparatively flat outcrops of sandstone, ideal for the purpose, and the aboriginal artists made full use of the medium nature provided. There are many single figures carved on isolated rocks but in numerous groups there are from half-a-dozen to thirty or more figures.
These engravings are all simple outlines of the subjects depicted, and their variety is notable. They include spiritual and mythical beings, men and women, reptiles, fish and insects. The foot-tracks of human beings and animals are often shown connecting various figures in the groups. Then there are maps, circles, weapons, ornaments, utensils, baskets and implements. On the other hand, shellfish (although a staple food) and plants are extremely rare. The range of motifs is usually wide in individual groups of engravings, but in some instances it is limited to the one subject, some groups may record the totems of individuals, clans and other social groups, and incidents of the chase; while many groups are ceremonial grounds.
The majority of the figures are life-size, but there are also to be seen very small and enlarged representations of the same creature. Most of the subjects are stylized; for example, the front aspect of human beings, the profile of mammals, birds and fish, and a bird’s eye view of reptiles, are the rule. Scant attention was said to the correct numbers of toes and fingers, the mouth and nose are not shown, and neck and both ears are usually omitted.
The artists were concerned primarily with posture and general outline, and in these respects produced admirable examples of rock art. Such an achievement is to be expected. They lived among the animals which gave them inspiration, studied their habits daily, and led their minds with pictures of their poses in feeding, observing and moving about for these reasons, the artists could portray their subjects with insight and in such a variety of positions. Some engravings, obviously, were done by making an outline round a dead animal placed on the rock.
Away from New South Wales similar outline engravings occur in the Broome district of north Western Australia, and occasionally in the interior of the continent. In the latter region, however, most of them are intaglios. These are small on the average, and include an interesting series of geometrical designs many of which are circular in form. There are, too, human and animal subjects in addition to various objects used by the natives in their everyday life.
A great deal more has yet to be discovered about the manner in which rock engravings were made, for is now a lost art. It is clear that the intaglios of inland Australia were hammered out with a stone, as the whole surface of the figure presents a battered or pecked appearance. The outline engravings of the Sydney-Hawkesbury river district, however, are a different proposition. There, a preliminary outline was apparently drawn or scratched on the rock surface. A series of punctures was then made along the outline, either with the sharp corner of a hand stone, or in “gad and hammer” style. The punctures may overlap or be an inch or more apart. The majority of the figures have punctured outlines. In some carvings the rock between the punctures was chopped away to make a rough groove. In a minority, those probably comprising the most sacred figures, the grooves were rubbed with a stone to form a smooth outline, and this was widened and deepened by re-rubbing from time to time during actual ceremonies.
The aborigines are true artists. The rock engravings are the product of a strong aesthetic feeling and out look and this is just as important as their ritual and magical significance. This appreciation of art is expressed in many of the caves occupied by families in which the walls and ceilings are covered with paintings. Similarly, in areas where the aborigines fashioned their axes and sometimes beside their camping grounds on river banks are to be seen groups of engravings of animals such as fish, kangaroos and wallabies, or of others abundant in the locality.
A SCHOOL OF FISH
Fish are favored as subject matter along the coast, and there are many striking engravings to be seen like this one, which shows a school of fish with a shark among them.
KANGAROOS IN MOTION
The natives were most skillful in drawing kangaroos, which are shown either hopping along in line, as depicted here, or else in small groups feeding.
It is clear that many of the isolated carvings of animals were purely artistic productions executed in idle moments by a true artist with a desire for self-expression or for purposes of a record of a special "kill". The age of these engravings is uncertain. Those with wide and deep grooves may be thousands of years old, while those very lightly punctured can only have been done within the past few hundred years. With few exceptions, the weapons and other articles depicted are those of the natives living in the vicinity at the time of white occupation. From this brief review, it is apparent that the rock engravings of Australia form an important record of art in its earliest stages. Those of the Sydney-Hawkesbury River district, in particular, are comparable in technique and inspiration with the work of the earliest cave artists, the ancient Aurignacians of Spain and France. They may be regarded, therefore, as an excellent example of how art itself began, and the more so as occurring among what is admitted to be the most primitive people now living in the world. The preservation of Australia’s heritage of rock art is a national duty, both of our citizens and our governments.
image 1: A school of fish well portrayed, with punctured outlines. (Kuring-gai Chase, N.S.W.)
image 2: The vitality and movement of a fleeing wallaby are well shown in this engraving. (Cowan Creek, N.S.W.)
image 3: Figure of a bream-like fish, with smoothed outline of the grooved type. (Cowan Creek, N.S.W.)
March 1945
Page 130 - Australasian Photo-Review
RECOGNITION MEDAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HAROLD CAZNEAUX Hon. FRPS writes: It is indeed a most interesting matter, your introduction of the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal and A.P.-R. Recognitions certainly indicates a most novel and important A.P.-R. attainment. I notice my own name inscribed among the awards and I must say that this indeed is a pleasure and an honor.
ATHEL F. D’OMBRAIN writes: It was indeed a bombshell of good news and I feel like the recipient of a New Year Honor. I would like to express my appreciation in no uncertain manner and consider it is by far the best commendation I have so far received in my photographic career. It is honor enough to be amongst such names as appear in the list and I sincerely hope I can live up to it.
For my part, I am quite sure it will be an added impulse to improve my work and I hope that times will soon change for the better, to enable us all to go about doing such things as photography and others arts, from which we find outlets to our other jobs.
I am also very pleased to see my good friend O.A. Sims included in this year’s list, as we both have been working together and pulling each other’s work to pieces critically of course, for the last two years. I have learned quite a lot from him in one way and another and always admire his print quality and originality of ideas. I can assure you of my continued support over the coming twelve months.
JOHN EATON FRPS writes: I would like you to know that I appreciate that you have included me among the prospective recipients of your Recognition Medal. I shall value it as a memento of pleasant associations with your A.P.-R. We all like bouquets when they come our way whether we deserve them or not.
A.R. EADE writes: It was certainly a welcome New Year surprise to receive your letter and announcement regarding the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal and the monthly issue of Recognitions to prizewinners. I am sure that all A.P.-R. supporters will greet the innovation with enthusiasm and that all of us will be spurred on to even greater efforts in the future.
I feel greatly honored, indeed, to be placed among the recipients of the Recognition Medal for the retrospective years 1938/43, and the fact that my few contributions have been of value to the magazine. The Medal will be one of my most highly valued possessions, both now and in the years to come.
Also I would like to thank the Editors for the good advice and help they have given me on so many occasions and also all fellow contributors and competitors for their instructive articles and photographs which have been of such great value to me in my hobby of photography.
J.W. IKIN writes: I wish to thank you for your advance notice which I received today. To receive such a gift from out-of the-blue, as it were and to be with such distinguished company, is an honor which my pen cannot rightly express. Except for a few trophies which I won when the Northern Camera Club was in being, your A.P.-R. Medal is the first tangible recognition I have ever received and it goes without saying how much it will be treasured when it is received. You may rest assured that I will continue to improve my work to the best of my ability and the A.P.-R. Medal will always act as a stimulus should one ever be needed.
C.O. KROKER writes: I wish to thank you for the unexpected honor of being awarded the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal. Any work I have done for the A.P.-R, has always been a pleasure and a benefit to myself. The award of monthly Recognitions should be an added incentive to workers.
L.A. LYONS writes: Thank you for proof advising me of the award of the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal; thank you, of course, for the award itself. May I say that the stimulus provided by competitors in the A.P.-R. and other magazines has been an important factor in any photographic progress I have made. The advice and assistance of more experienced photographers has always been sought and gratefully received, so that successes of mine are largely fruit from the general tree. If of any use, my own short experience is always at the disposal of others.
AINSLIE ROBERTS writes: A word of thanks to let you know how much I appreciate the award of the A.P.-R, Recognition Medal. I feel that to receive this is a great honor and in addition, the A.P.-R. is to be heartily congratulated on its enterprise in making available such a worthwhile award. In reader interest and in its service to photography generally, the A.P.-R., in my opinion, compares more than favorably with the best of overseas magazines. It is an integral part of Australian photography. The Recognition Medals and Contest Recognition will stimulate even more interest in contributors and contest entrants, offering, as the name implies, concrete recognition of individual effort. My Recognition Medal will be one of my proudest photographic possessions.
W.H. STUCKEY writes: I have just received your letter congratulating me on being the recipient of an A.P.-R. Recognition Medal. It would be superfluous to tell you just how pleased I am to be among the first to receive the recognition, but it is something more than a medal. It is, to me, a symbol of the fellowship I have enjoyed for many years with the Editors and I am grateful, indeed, for the sentiment so nicely expressed by your including my name on the enviable list. Actually though, I feel that things should, in all fairness, be the other way round; I should be giving you a medal by way of some compensation for your kindly tolerance and skillful assistance over the years you have been reviewing my photographs.
As I confessed in a recent article, I entered photography via the “back door” and I can unreservedly say that my present status in camera work is due entirely to your criticism and constructive suggestions. You have classified me among the “good friends” of the A.P.-R. That, too, should be the other way round, for it is the A.P.-R. which is the “good friend” to all of we aspiring photographers who have discovered a valuable and complete course in photography at a premium of sixpence per month! I hope to have more time to devote to the A.P.-R. in the forthcoming year and meantime proffer to you and to Mr. Keast Burke my earnest wishes for a prosperous and healthy New Year.
O.A. SIMS writes: May I offer my sincerest thanks for receiving a most unexpected surprise which I shall surely treasure more than anything else I may, or have, acquired. To see my name associated in such a popular magazine with some of the greatest pictorial photographers of Australia, is indeed a rare honor. Once again the Editors of the A.P.-R. are to be congratulated on introducing such a modern scheme that creates a standard far in advance of any other publication and I am sure, will create a wonderful competitive spirit that my fellow workers will undoubtedly work very hard to strive and gain possession of this medal. As for recognitions, well, like other workers, I think this does fill a long-desired need that we shall all appreciate. I have always thought wouldn’t it be fine to receive some major prize for photography, which some day I may be fortunate enough to earn; but beyond such thoughts I did not venture. Now, having won this medal, I said to myself, what next? This is my answer, that my work shall always merit the holding of such a valuable token.
WALTER S. WOOD writes: What a surprise for me, this medal, especially when my name is bracketed with such well-known artists.
I hope you and your staff will take some pleasure in knowing how much I value this token of a year’s effort in the art we all are so interested in. As a recipient of such an honor, my natural modesty (?) has received quite a jolt and am beginning to think that perhaps, maybe, I can produce a masterpiece. Joking apart, the intimation of being one of the three medalists for 1944 has given me one of the most gratifying thrills of my life and I thank Kodak and their wonderful A.P.-R. for the honor conferred. Let us hope the associations contacted will endure for many years yet to come.
CLARENCE B. YOUNG writes: Your letter of the 4th inst., stating that I had been awarded the A.P.-R. Recognition Medal, came as a very pleasant surprise.
I consider the awarding of these medals and recognitions to A.P.-R. workers a generous and encouraging gesture on the part of the Editors, who, themselves, have played no small part in the advancement of photography and photographers in general. The fact that the seven prints accepted out of the fifty-three sent to the Chicago Salon for 1944, had all been previously acclaimed and reproduced prizewinners in A.P.-R. competitions, proves the high world standard set and should be a definite guide to photographers when making a selection for future salons and oversea exhibitions.
March 1947
Page 163 - Australasian Photo-Review
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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| DONALD BROWN | CHARLES COLLIN | G.S. HARRISON | H.P. JAMES | ROY MACDONELL | A.B. MADDOCK | J.W. WATSON |
1947 - 1948 |
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January 1949
Page 39 - Australasian Photo-Review
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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| J. BILNEY | A.G. GRAY | J. HOEY | H.A. LARSEN | S.H. LOFTS | The late W.H. MOFFITT | E. ROBERTSON ARPS | Mrs MAVIS WHEATSTONE |
October 1950
Page 652 - Australasian Photo-Review
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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| JACK CATO FRPS | L.G. CHANDLER | C.S. CHRISTIAN | H.N. JONES ARPS | K.J. MIERENDORFF | KEITH NEIGHBOUR | RON PARSONS |
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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NEW SOUTH WALES |
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| DONALD BROWN | J.P. CARNEY ARPS | HAROLD CAZNEAUX Hon.FRPS | C.S. CHRISTIAN | CHARLES COLLIN | G.S. DAVIES | A.F. DOMBRAIN | A.R. EADE |
| JAMES HOEY | H.P. JAMES | H.N. JONES ARPS | S.H. LOFTS | LEO A. LYONS ARPS | ROY MACDONELL | K.J. MIERENDORFF | THE LATE W.H. MOFFITT |
| R. MUNRO ROBERTSON | O.A. SIMS | THE LATE ARTHUR SMITH | W.H. STUCKEY | Mrs MAVIS WHEATSTONE | A.G. WILLIAMS | THE LATE WALTER S. WOOD | CLARENCE B. YOUNG ARPS, APSA |
VICTORIA |
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| JOHN BILNEY | JACK CATO FRPS | L.G. CHANDLER | JOHN B. EATON FRPS | A.G. GRAY | G.S. HARRISON | FRANCIS C. JOHNSON | C.O. KROKER |
VICTORIA |
SOUTH AUSTRALIA |
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| RON PARSONS | THE LATE DR. JULIAN SMITH Hon.FRPS |
THE LATE G.L. FISHER | CHARLES P. MOUNTFORD | KEITH NEIGHBOUR | AINSLIE ROBERTS ARPS, APSA | E. ROBERTSON ARPS | |
WESTERN AUSTRALIA |
TASMANIA |
NEW ZEALAND |
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J.W. WATSON |
JOHN Wm. IKIN |
ALLAN B. MADDOCK |
H.A. LARSEN |
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1st April 1951 Page 253 - Vol. 58 No. 4 Australasian Photo-Review
In the course of pleasant informal functions, presentations were recently made to A.P.-R. Recognition Medal recipients residing in the Southern States. The Adelaide function was held at the Oriental Hotel. On his occasion Mrs. L.M. Hocking received the medal award on behalf of her late husband, G.L. Fisher, while C.P. Mountford, K. Neighbour and E. Robertson were present in person. A very special guest was F.C. Krichauff, Australia’s oldest amateur photographer.
The Hobart presentation was arranged at the Wrest Point Hotel, when W. R. Clarkson, Comany executive from Sydney, presented A.B. Maddock with his medal. The Launceston presentation to J.W. Ikin was also made by the same executive. The guest list included office-bearers of the Northern Tasmanian Camera Club and the Launceston Cine Club.
The presentation to J.W. Watson, Perth recipient, was made by the Company management in that territory.
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY of NEW SOUTH WALES |
Dr. A.E. FRASER CHAFFER APSA |
“A.P.-R.” RECOGNITION MEDAL |
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