WHAT’S in a photo? A new exhibition opening tomorrow at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, one of many shows devoted to memories of World War I, will go some way towards answering this question.
In “Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War”, a sepia 1915 photograph of newly-married couple Kate McLeod and George Searle tells its own story. The husband is wearing the uniform of the First Australian Imperial Force, the wife a long lace wedding gown.
The photograph was uncovered in the 600,000-strong collection of images in the National Library whilst curators were undertaking research for “Keepsakes.”
“This photograph of a patriotic young man who married his love before he goes off to war is what our new exhibition is all about,” says Director-General of the National Library, Anne-Marie Schwirtlich. “When you look at the photo you can’t but help think what happened to this man. Did he survive the war? Did he come back a changed man? How did his new wife cope during his absence?”
Exhibition curator Guy Hansen explains that the word “keepsakes” can also mean letters, diaries, manuscripts and ephemera.
‘Today, there is no-one left who was there. No-one who can tell us what happened, what they saw or how they felt,’ Hansen says, “So to understand as best we can, we must turn to their archives.”
“Keepsakes: Australians and the Great War,” opens tomorrow, Wednesday November 26 and runs until July 19, 2015. Admission is free.
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