City of Shadows II : More hidden histories

Early in 2009, I blogged on a collection of Sydney police photographs, originally taken between 1912 and 1960, the negatives rescued by the Historic House Trust of New South Wales from a flooded warehouse and later reproduced to be displayed in museum exhibitions and coffee table books. From the latter, my copy of ‘City of Shadows: Sydney Police Photographs 1912-1948‘ is much cherished. Soon to be ordered is another book by Peter Doyle, an equally captivating record of 1920’s Sydney’s criminal underground, titled ‘Crooks Like Us‘.

Much more than a collection of mug shots, these are a stunning glimpse of Australian history like no other. Each dramatic image is a remarkably honest portraiture, rich and alive with stories from the naked underbelly of a youthful city in a newly federated nation.



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