Photographer William H. Bardwell worked in Ballarat, Victoria from 1858 until 1878, and for much of that period he operated his own business: the Royal Photographic Studio. 'The studio is every way replete with suitable accommodation … and rooms are provided for both ladies and gentlemen,' stated one advertisement. 'Mr Bardwell's long and practical example will entitle him to the claim to the first position in Ballarat as a photographer,' it continued. Bardwell took advantage of his studio's close proximity to the Theatre Royal, producing photographs for visiting theatre groups and operatic companies. He exhibited photographs of Ballarat at the Intercolonial Exhibition in Sydney in 1870 and had a photographic panorama of Ballarat in the Victorian section of the London International Exhibition of 1873. From 1878 he worked in Melbourne, though the Ballarat studio continued to operate throughout the 1880s.
Purchased 2015
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