Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History

Since the beginning of civilisation, discoveries have encompassed an enticing notion of uncovering something for the first time; however contemporary perceptions of discovery appreciate the transformative nature of newfound realisations whether they arise from a process of deliberate planning or are evoked unexpectedly. Simon Nasht’s 2004 movie documentary Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History explores the lifetime of the celebrated photojournalist and grand illusionist, Frank Hurley, who pioneered the art of photography and documentary filmmaking and transformed various principles, cultures and civilisations along the way. Correspondingly, Kate Chopin’s contextually divisive and avant-garde short story The Story of an Hour recounts the emotional

Despite Hurley’s expedition to Papua New Guinea being plagued with various controversies, “he unintentionally left them with something of immense value, a record of their lost culture” ultimately, depicting the power Hurley’s images had to preserve an aspect of life as unreturnable as a dying culture. This narration combined with the fragments of [insert names] interview showcase the ways Hurley captured the New Guinean civilisation through the barrel and his camera, demonstrating the enduring quality of his photography. Consequently Hurley provides future generations of the New Guinean society with a record of lost customs, practices and traditions allowing the culture to be continually passed down and prosper, rather than vanishing completely. Moreover, Hurley’s realisation that through camerawork he had the opportunity to “photograph the nation [Australia] as he wished it to be” forever transformed the demographic of Australian society. Acting as a catalyst, changing it from the once exclusively British society. This in turn ultimately paints Australia as a utopian society with “no poor, no indigenous Australians, no struggling farmers” inspiring over six million migrants to journey to the land of supposed boundless opportunity depicted in Hurley’s photographs, thus expressing the societal impacts of the ramifications of individual and communal