MELBOURNE STORIES | DRESSING FOR THE CAMERA: photography and the colonial portrait with Laura Jocic

The invention of photography allowed a wide range of people, who previously could not afford to commission a painter, to have their portraits taken. Surviving images of 19th century Australian settlers provide an insight into changing styles of dress and the nuances in the way garments and accessories were worn. Dressed for the camera, many of these portraits also unlock stories of emigration and the role photography played in maintaining ties with families who had been divided through emigration. 

LAURA JOCIC is undertaking a PhD at the University of Melbourne, researching dress and its role in Australian colonial society. She was formerly a curator in the department of Australian Fashion and Textiles at the National Gallery of Victoria where she curated a number of exhibitions including Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion. In 2016 Laura curated the exhibition LOUIS KAHAN: art, theatre, fashion for the Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn. 

image caption: Paterson Bros., Melbourne (photographer), Young woman wearing a crinoline, circa 1862, albumen print, Private collection