Zeilboot, vermoedelijk in de wateren van Sydney c. 1890 - 1910

Charles Bayliss made this albumen print of a sailboat, likely off the coast of Sydney, sometime in the late 19th century. Photography in this period was still a relatively new medium, with practitioners eager to demonstrate its potential as both a documentary tool and an art form. In Australia, photography played a crucial role in shaping perceptions of the landscape and promoting the colony to potential settlers and investors. Bayliss, along with other photographers of his time, contributed to this visual narrative by capturing scenes that emphasized the beauty and prosperity of the region. This image would have served to promote a narrative of Australia as a civilized and thriving society, drawing on familiar conventions of landscape painting. By examining photographic journals, exhibition catalogs, and other period documents, we can gain a deeper appreciation of the complex social and institutional contexts in which images like this were produced and consumed.